A Tale of the Twilight
by The Trumpet's Call Sounds
Summary: Jacob Is a normal boy, but his dark family past comes back to haunt him- leaving him drastically changed, and with little hope of return. Can he separate his destiny from this darkness? . Pokemon TF Story. Written in connection with Shifters and Shadows, by What Lies Beyond. Best if read after A Tale of Two Eevees.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again people! I have started writing again. I may not be updating this as frequently as I was with A Tale of Two Eevees. I have not received any OC submissions so I will not be using any yet. Feel free to submit some. This story will be similar to A Tale of Two Eevees in some ways, and will take place in the same 'universe'.**

I awoke to find the sun shining on my face through the window on the wall of my blue painted room. I was worried about being late to school for a second, but then I remembered that Summer Vacation had just started. That always threw me off. I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Staring back, I saw my short cut brown hair, sky blue eyes, and the annoying pimples that had only started appearing this year. I got dressed and went downstairs to get some breakfast. My parents were taking the summer to go and visit the recently opened up Kalos region, far away from our home in Sinnoh. My parents were both amateur naturalists and wanted to study the region and all the Pokémon living there. My parents had inherited a ridiculous amount of money from my grandfather, who had been the CEO of some large conglomerate corporation.

This suited me just fine, as I preferred to be alone and it meant that I could spend as much time playing games on my laptop as I wanted, without fear of my Mom and Dad yelling at me to go outside. I never really enjoyed spending time outside; I just got uncomfortable outside during the day, it never seemed to be the right temperature. During the night, however, I loved to lie on the lawn and gaze up at the moon and stars. Something about them always mystified me.

Downstairs, I saw for the third day in a row the note my mom left me on the fridge; "Jacob, please try and do something other than play your videogames all day, it's not healthy for you to be cooped up like that all day. Go and hang out with your friends, or try and make new ones. –Love, Mom." It was typical for her to ask that, but I did decide to try and follow her request to hang out with friends, but it turned out that all of my friends would be busy over the summer. As for the healthy part, I wasn't exactly in shape, but I was in no way fat. I was five feet and eleven inches, and I only weighed 120 pounds.

As for the make new friends part, I knew what my mom really meant by that. She wanted me to go talk to the girl I had always had a crush on, Amanda. She was always pushing me to do that. I wished I could, but I had always been too shy even approach her. To top that off, she wanted to be a Pokémon trainer, although she was waiting to finish high school, and I had never really thought that it was ethical to train Pokémon to battle- whether or not it was against their will. These things combined into the awkward situation of me having a crush on her, and regardless of if she knew, I would never be able to tell her. She would probably be gone in a few years anyways on her Pokémon journey.

I finished eating my breakfast; cereal and milk, as I almost always have, and walked down the driveway to get the newspaper. The town I lived in was small, and not important enough to be a destination for travelers of the region. My family's humble house was on the outskirts of town, surrounded by forests on the north and west, with a road heading to the village center and onward east, and farmland owned by some large company was to the south. I never understood why when we had so much money we lived in a small house, miles and miles from any major town.

I retrieved the newspaper, a local publication that had to practically beg people to find stories, due to the uneventfulness of life in this area. I really don't know why my parents insisted on getting it. Today's front page headline was; "New coat shop opening March 5th." As I said, I have no idea why my parents paid for it. I went back inside the house.

After spending six straight hours playing videogames, I got bored, which was a problem because there was nothing else to do. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Red flag number one. I got up and started heading down stairs, slipping my folding knife into my pocket as I did so. Looking out the window, I saw a SPS (Sinnoh Package Service) truck outside and two guys in SPS uniform, one of them holding a box outside the front door. I wasn't expecting any packages, red flag two.

I decided to wait for them to leave, but they were still there after five minutes, and my curiosity and impulsiveness got in the way of my better judgment. I went to the door, and opened it half way, blocking any room for the men to enter using my body. "Can I help you?" I asked, suspiciously.

The man carrying the box nodded. "Can we come in? We need you to sign some papers for this delivery." He said. A real delivery man would never ask to come in. Strike three, you're out. I tried to slam the door shut, but the man not holding the box held it open. Panicking, I grabbed for my knife, but in that instant the man without the box pushed the door open, knocking me down in the process. I picked myself up, too scared to reach for my knife.

The man with the box laughed. "Didn't your mom ever tell you not to open the door for strangers, kid?" I felt rather stupid for putting myself in this situation. The man without the box, before I could react, pulled out a small club and hit me over the head with it, and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again, people! It's nice to have people reviewing again to bolster my ego. Monologue alert is in place for this chapter. Feel free to submit an OC that you think would work with this story. Anyways, now on to review responses!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. I highly doubt that anyone from Nintendo goes through these and will find that I didn't put one on the first chapter. This disclaimer applies to the rest of the story.**

**Caitou zzzzzz: **Well, what you have there is wrong, but you will find out soon*. (No more spoilers in review responses this time) AS to your OC', I agree that they would not work well.

**What Lies Beyond:** Only part you have right is umbreon. I wasn't exactly being subtle with that. You will find out what happens soon*.

*Likely this chapter

When I returned to consciousness, the first thing I noticed was that I was in what looked like a re-purposed jail cell. I stood up and looked outside the barred door in front of me. Contrasting with the cell I was in was a high tech, somewhat futuristic looking laboratory.

I took a closer look at the cell. There was a single bed with a single mattress, one sheet, and no pillow. In the top left corner of the room, there was a single video camera mounted on the wall. Opposite the barred door, there was a single window. No one seemed to be in the lab outside, and from what I could see through the one window in the cell I was in was that it was night time. My head was still aching from being knocked out, and I doubted I was going to get any sleep. With a groan, I laid down, not sure what the future held.

As I predicted, I got no sleep. By keeping a rough estimate by looking through the small window, I guessed that about eight or ten hours had passed before I heard the door to the lab sliding open. Standing before me was a man in a team galactic uniform; I recognized the symbol on it from then news five years ago, it was about a twentieth anniversary of their defeat at the hands of the previous champion. The man seemed old, he must have been in his late fifties.

The man stood outside the cell, looking at me. I was getting rather impatient standing there, but I didn't want to speak. Finally, the man spoke. "I hope you are feeling well. Is your head feeling ok?" This just made me angry, since I was just impatient.

"Just get to the point. Why am I here?" I asked the man.

This made him chuckle. "Always impatient, aren't you Jacob? Always ignoring your mother advice, always spending your time playing silly games, aren't you? It's a good thing we could get to you while your parents were away." He laughed, and he sounded completely insane when he did so. I had known that I was in a bad situation before, but this made me actually fear for my life. This guy was obviously a lunatic. On top of that, I had thought that team Galactic had been defeated.

"The man laughed again. "I bet you thought that team Galactic had been defeated, didn't you? Saw that newscast? Well, Sinnoh's _hero_ wasn't as thorough as he could have been." He practically spat at the word hero. "He got Cyrus, he got your annoying grandfather, he got all the other leaders, but he didn't find me, the second in command of Galactic's science division." I had thought that my grandfather was a CEO of a corporation, not someone working with team Galactic. Had my parents lied to me about that?

The man raised one eyebrow. "I can tell that your parents never told you the truth, did they. Your grandfather ran the business division of Galactic. Luckily for your family, some of his assets were legitimist. This guy was really creepy. "Anyways, since you are obviously wondering, I will not tell you my name, but you may refer to me as Pluto. I have one last thing for you; consider it a gift." He had a mad gleam in his eyes that made me scared. He reached into his bag, and pulled out a Pokémon egg. Pluto opened a small, clear compartment in the wall next to the door, and placed the egg inside. He then pressed a button, opening the back side of the compartment, which opened into the cell I was in.

I was at a loss for words, and said nothing while Pluto left the lab. After I finished freaking out over how much he had known about me, I tried to analyze what he had said. According to Pluto, my grandfather had been in charge of Team Galactic's businesses, which meant that my parents had not actually lied to me, they had only told half the truth. I wasn't sure whether I should feel grateful that they hadn't told me, or to be annoyed that they thought I wouldn't react well to it. It had always felt like my parents were overprotective, but I guess that would be explained by my grandfather's history. The family name would have stayed; the grandfather in question was my father's father. I wondered where my parents were now; they were probably hiking in kalos, and they wouldn't be able to call the house for a month at least. In that time, Pluto would have time to… Now that I thought about it, I had no clue what he planned to do with me. He had distracted me so much with his knowledge of my life that he had completely avoided my question.

Having nothing else to do, I walked over to the egg. It was just a generic Pokémon egg, and as usual there was no way to tell what Pokémon it may hatch into. I felt an odd pull to the egg, like whatever was inside it was somehow calling to me. I got the feeling that the egg was going to hatch soon. I had no clue how I knew that, but I just did. Anyways, it seemed like I was in for a boring day.

**A/N: Sorry about the cliff hanger.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again people! I was kind of surprised about the sudden explosion of reviews within one hour on Sunday, but I do appreciate it! As for something that people may find cliché starting this chapter, let's just say that it's not gratuitous. Also, that plot element references how the mechanic in the game regarding that works. Now on to reviews!**

**Charlesguy: **I am glad that the character doesn't come off as an idiot; he is supposed to be shown as smart, but with his own flaws and limitations.

**What Lies Beyond: SPOILER ALERT! **Well, you are on to something is on to something, let's just say that Pluto is cruel and insane enough to play with emotions like that, and that you are right about the eevee. You are correct that there is a transformation, that is obvious, but it has nothing to do with his families past. As for OC's I am looking for Pokémon mainly, and one or two humans, at least one of them being a trainer. None of them will die, unless you say it's ok, and even then probably not.

**Mowrotom314:** I am glad that you like the story so far. Characters from A Tale of Two Eevees will not appear until the end.

It was a cloudy night; I could tell by looking through the window in the cell. It had been about eleven hours since Pluto had left me alone with the egg. Over the day, a lone security guard had entered three times; each time he brought a meager meal of slightly stale bread and water. As a still growing teenage boy, this was not enough to blunt my appetite. I wondered how long I was going to be trapped here. I walked over to the bed, where I had set down the egg. As I held it, I heard a small thump; whatever was inside was trying to get out.

I set down the egg, but the moment I did, I heard a tiny cracking sound. Turning back around, I saw a small crack in the egg. There was another, louder cracking sound, and the egg split open. At the same time, the moon came out from behind a cloud, bathing the small cell I was in in oddly intense moonlight. As suddenly as it appeared, the moon disappeared behind the clouds again, but for a moment it seemed like the light had stayed in the room. Then I realized that it wasn't moonlight left in the room; the Pokémon that had hatched was the same color as the moonlight.

Then, I realized that the Pokémon that had hatched was an eevee, an eevee that was the same silver color as the moon. I had never seen a shiny Pokémon before, so I was just shocked about this. The eevee looked up at me, but oddly stayed silent. I stood in place, awkwardly, looking at it. Before too long, I heard the lab door sliding open. It was the lone security guard; but instead of food for me, he brought two small bowls; one of Pokémon food, and one of water. He placed them in the clear box, closed it, and left, silent as ever. I went over to the box, took out the two bowls, and put them on the floor. Turning around, I saw that the eevee had decided that the bed was the best place to sleep. Deciding not to disturb it, I gently slid the sheet out from under it. I was suddenly exhausted, although I couldn't tell why. I wrapped myself up in the sheet and lied down on the floor of the cell. This was going to be an uncomfortable night.

I woke up, to find the eevee drinking from the water bowl. As if on cue, the lab door slid open. In walked Pluto, who looked just as insane as before. "I am glad to see that you two are getting along nicely. Also, if you were wondering, it was not just chance that that eevee is – what's the term- shiny. This leads me to the reason that I chose you." For what he chose me, he did not say. "I had a DNA sample from your grandfather- well, I had one from every team Galactic member- and it just so happened that a specific line of genetic code that runs through your family matches with a specific line in this eevee's, which is which causes your 'souls' to be entwined in such a way that causes a Pokémon to be miscolored, but you wouldn't understand how that works." I'm not sure that I heard this, but it almost sounded like he muttered under his breath; "I don't even understand it."

"Anyways," he continued, "You have a big day ahead of you, its best that you get yourself mentally prepared." With that, instead of leaving, he turned to what looked like a control panel on one of the machines in the lab and started turning some dials.

"Wait, what are you going to do to me?" I asked, among other questions, but I got no response. After an hour passed of me yelling at Pluto, demanding answers, he walked to somewhere out of sight of my small cell. Suddenly, a solid wall fell over the cell door, and I heard a subtle hiss, and the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness.

When I woke up, I found myself lying down in a rather cramped cell. I could hear Pluto talking outside; "-these similarities allowed for their souls, for lack of the better word, to be exchanged, although the eevee's soul was consumed in the process. End audio log 5." I wasn't able to process what he said, I could barely think straight. I tried to stand up, but I couldn't quite do it, and I fell back down. Instinctually, I settled down on all fours. Looking down, I saw not my feet, but paws covered in silver fur. It hurt my brain to try and think about it, but it seemed like I had been trapped in the body of the eevee.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! I just got Dark Souls II, but I'm putting off starting it so I can get up a chapter! In case you missed the update I took down when posting this, I am going on a trip to Israel for 5 weeks at the end of the month, so expect a long break in updates. On another note, I got a shiny sylveon and named it H8ersGonnaH8. **

**Info: The character Bane, along with a few other characters he submitted for later in the story are the intellectual property of What Lies Beyond, not me. Another thing of importance to this story: I am going by game logic where Pokémon make logical sounds instead of saying their name over and over again**

**Reviews:**

**GlaceonFan:** The next update will be a while after this, so just be patient.

**No one special**: I don't think that anyone has time to post a thousand word chapter every day. The Lord of the Rings was written at the rate if a word per hour if I recall corectly. Also, I don't really like shiny Riolu's all that much.

**What Lies Beyond: **To beat an already dead horse, "Please understand." I hope the trip goes well also.

I could barely think. I had a headache so bad it felt like my brain was at war with itself. I opened my eyes, not realizing I had closed them. I was in a small cage in the center of the lab; everything around me seemed so much bigger than normal. In a brief moment of clarity, I wondered what had happened to my body, the cell I had inhabited was empty. The soft light was too much stimulus for my brain to handle, so I closed my eyes again.

I lost track of time, but at some point I heard the door open. The slight pneumatic hiss was enough to cause another wave of pain to surge through my head. I heard the rolling of wheels, and I opened my eyes to see what was going on. The brighter lights had been turned, so I had to squint and couldn't quite make out what was going on, but I recognized Pluto's lab coat as well as two guards pushing someone, who seemed to be the size of an adult, on a gurney towards the cell I had been kept in. I tried to call out; "Help!" to get their attention, but instead of just hearing my voice, I heard the sound of a baby eevee crying as well as my voice.

I did, however, succeed in drawing Pluto's attention. "Ah, so you are awake. I just can't wait to do psychological testing on you to see what the effects are of a human being fully trapped in the body of a Pokémon. In previous experiments, we tried less extreme permutations of this, as well as some _other _forms of hybridization, as can be shown by Bane over there, as you will soon see. He does seem to have not aged, which has me stumped but I am sure that I will figure it out in due time. Anyways, are you feeling alright?" I shook my head, feebly. "Great!" Pluto exclaimed. "Absolutely wonderful. Anyways, for the moment, I think I will be transferring you back to the cell, more convenient that way."

I felt the cage I was in lifting, as Pluto carried it across the room towards the cell. He opened the cage, and pulled me out, and put me into the clear box my- no, the eevee's egg had been placed. He then pushed the back of the box in, forcing me out. I had the brief sensation of falling, and then in a moment of clarity instinctually landed on my feet and took a few shaky steps away from the cell door. Then, my headache returned, even worse than before, and I fell unconscious on the spot.

I woke up on the lone bed in the cell, not knowing how I had gotten there. I opened my eyes. The cell was lit solely by the light of the moon. Looking around, I saw that the person who was brought in earlier was not exactly human. He had slightly yellow fur in a layer, from what I could see of him, as he was wearing a trench coat. I could see part of what looked like a black stripe on his arm, just under where the coat covered. The man was taller than the average person, around 6 feet 5 inches from what I could tell. He was sitting cross legged on the floor, obviously awake.

It was at this point that he spoke. "So, you are awake. Are you feeling ok?" He asked. He had a deep voice.

"No.", I responded, but to my surprise he could understand me.

"Well, what's wrong?" He asked.

"My head hurts, I can barely think." I answered.

"Can you tell me your name and where you are from?" He asked.

"My name is Jacob, and I'm from…" I couldn't remember. How could I forget where I am from? It was like my mind had formed a wall around this information, and it just hurt my head to try and remember, so I stopped trying to remember, which in retrospect ended up being scariest thing that ever went on in my mind.

"As I worried." Bane said. "As soon as you are able to walk I'm getting you out of here, we need a powerful psychic to stabilize your mind, otherwise you will slowly lose who you are. I don't think I have introduced myself. My name is Bane, and I am a human-Growlithe hybrid. I was made this way by Team Galactic in a similar manner to what happened to you, and the Growlithe I was fused with was a 'soul specific' shiny, as I am assuming the eevee you were fused with was. You should get some sleep; you are going to need to learn to walk as fast as possible."

With that, Bane went turned back towards the cell door, and I curled up into a ball, trying to block out everything, even my thoughts to make the pain in my head stop.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone! I'm back, and I finally got over my writers block. My trip was a lot of fun, and while I was in Israel, more people died from tornadoes in the region where I live than did of the rocket attacks in Israel. **

**Thanks again to What Lies Beyond for the character Bane, and I hope my writing of him lives up to what you expect.**

**Mowrotom314: **Well, I hope this lives up to your expectations. The trip went well, and I figured out the cause of my problems, and it shouldn't happen again.

**GlaceonFan**: Dealt with in PM's, but once again, I like the story so far.

**Theburper**: Well, good for those writers. I have to flesh out ideas in my head before I actually sit down and write anything, and then I review it to make sure that my spellcheck didn't miss too much, then I post it. The fleshing out of ideas takes most of the time, and it happens over the course of 1-5 (generally) days, then the writing itself takes about an hour and a half.

**Epicchank199: **I will not be making the chapters longer, I have addressed this multiple times.

**Charlesguy: **Addressed in PM's, but see my profile for a list of all the shiny Pokémon I have, from X alone.

**PokPik**: Addressed already.

I found myself was in an open plain, with the moon shining down on me. I looked down, and I saw my own human body, not that of the shiny eevee, who was looking at me from a few feet away. "What's going on?" I asked of no one in particular.

The eevee cocked its head, before saying; "Play? Fun!", before starting to run away.

I was surprised that I could understand what it was saying, but I yelled; "Wait! Stop!", and surprisingly, the eevee did, almost as if it was forced to. I looked back up at the moon. It was rapidly setting, seeming to move a hundred times faster than normal, and the sky was starting to turn red with this rising of the sun. "What's going on, why are we here?" I asked the eevee. It just cocked its head again, and the plain dissolved into darkness.

I woke up, but I kept my eyes closed. My head was no longer hurting, but I could tell that I was an eevee still. It had just been a dream. It seemed that my mind wasn't fighting itself- at least for now. I opened my eyes, and managed to use my front legs to push myself to a sitting position. Bane was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you are awake." He said. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah, I think I regained control of my mind." I said, and then told him about the dream.

"Well, that's good, but over time the eevee aspect of you will just get stronger and stronger, and if we can't find help for you, you will still lose who you are. Anyways, since you are better for the moment, you need to learn to walk."

I tried to stand up, but my knees buckled and I fell back on to my behind. This caused Bane to laugh, and in that moment I got the image of a teenager shining through the layer of seriousness he was displaying. I tried standing up again, and this time I succeeded. Bane then picked me up and put me down on the floor. The bed seemed so much taller than it was when I was human. I wondered if I had misjudged Bane's height.

"Alright, so what you should do is move your front leg first, then your back leg on the opposite side." Bane said. I succeeded in this, but when I tried to complete the step with my other legs, I fell over. "Well, it's a start." Bane said.

In the middle of the day, a guard came in and put a bowl of Pokémon food and a granola bar through the slot in the cell door. Bane put the bowl in front of me. "I know it feels odd, but eat it. You will need your strength." He said. I eyed the food, suspiciously, but in the end my empty stomach won. I got a piece on my tongue, and to my surprise it didn't taste bad, so I ate the rest of it. Part of me was grossed out by the fact that I just ate Pokémon food, but part of me was also content just to have food.

I kept trying to walk, and by the end of the day I was able to walk, albeit slowly, around the cell. "At this rate, we will have you out of here in no time!" Bane said, but I simultaneously heard what sounded like a growlithe, before I realized that Bane was talking as a Pokémon. "For now, I want to tell you more about who I am. Before I took the name bane, I was called Caleb. Once I became what I am now, and then escaped from Galactic, I just ran. I was afraid to tell people who I was. I found others who had to run just as I did, and this changed me. Once I was able to open up to a… person, I eventually stopped running."

He paused slightly, as if he had to correct himself before saying person. "I decided that I needed to help people who had to go through similar things as me, so with the help of the Pokémon Celebi, I traveled here, through time, to help you and stop Pluto. What happened to you was set in time, so there was no way to stop it, unfortunately. Either way, in a few days the last of team Galactic will be destroyed." He said all of this as a Pokémon.

"You traveled through time? Is that why Pluto said you had seemed to not age" I asked, and Bane nodded.

"You are rather observant, aren't you?" He said. "Well, that's always a good quality to have."

"How will you be able to get us out of here?" I asked.

"I have limited control over fire. I can heat the bars, then I will be able to pull them apart, I have enhanced strength as a result of being a "hybrid", as some people call it." Bane said. "It's certainly a lot better than being called a freak, a demon, or a monster.", he said bitterly. "Anyways, get some sleep. I'm going to have you practice walking more tomorrow."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again people! I don't have much to say, although I was disappointed with the lack of reviews on the last chapter. Either way, this chapter is a bit longer than some of the previous ones.**

**Info: The characters of Bane, Ryan, and Cindy all belong to What Lies Beyond, as he suggested them to be OC's.**

Two days have passed since I had the dream. I kept to the same routine every day; Get up, practice walking, eat, practice walking, sleep. The guards only brought us one meal a day. I woke up in the morning, ready to start my routine. I had never really liked exercise, but the thought of escape gave me purpose, and so I stuck with the routine.

I jumped down from the bed, and looked over at Bane, who had an excited gleam in his eyes. "What's going on?" I asked him, still rather groggy from just having woken up.

"Today, we make our escape!" He said, excitedly. "I got word to one of my friends-" he indicated the small window which showed the sky. "that we are ready, and they should start a distraction any minute now. He said that he found some people to help. I have been saving up strength to heat the bars, so we will see how this goes."

We waited in silence for a few minutes, and Bane was showing signs of impatience. He paced back and forth around the cell, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, there was a muffled boom, and several alarms went off at once. "That's our cue!" Bane shouted over the alarms, and rushed over to the bars of the cell. The placed his hands on two adjacent bars, and breathed deeply, in and out. All of a sudden, the bars he was holding glowed red hot, and Bane pushed them apart with no apparent effort.

The gap he created was just enough for both of us to squeeze through. He went through first, then I followed a few seconds behind. There was a second boom, sounding closer this time. I heard Pluto's voice over the loudspeaker. "Someone go check on the prisoners, DO NOT LET THEM ESCAPE!"

Bane cursed under his breath. "We have to get moving, the guards will be here soon. We started out the door of the lab we were in, Bane moving slower than he probably wanted to so that I could keep up. Bane ducked into a small janitorial closet, and I followed him, and not a moment too soon. Bane closed the door, and I heard heavy footsteps pounding outside in the hallway. The guards had come.

"No sign of the prisoners!" One of them shouted.

"They can't have gone far, search the side passages!" Another yelled.

Bane looked down at me. "I'm going to have to carry you if we are going to get out of here." He said, quietly. I nodded, and he picked me up, cradling me like a football in the crook of his left arm. Taking a deep breath in, Bane shoved open the door and sprinted up the hallway.

I heard surprised yells behind us, but we quickly left them behind. Suddenly, bane stopped short. We had reached a T shaped section of the building, one side lead to a long hallway with a door marked "Central Command- Pluto's office", and the other was marked with an exit sign. Bane paused, seeming conflicted.

Suddenly, there was a loud boom right in front of us as a graveller punched through the wall, making a hole large enough for it to fit through, and it moved in and out of the way. Following behind it were two humans, a boy and a girl, both in their late teens, accompanied by a ninetails. "You must be Bane, Frost told us about you." The boy said.

"Oh my god is that a shiny eevee? It's so cute!" The girl said.

Bane nodded, before looking over to me. "Go with them, I have something to attend to." He set me down and looked up at the two humans. "His name is Jacob. Treat him like you would a good friend. If you have a psychic Pokémon with you have them communicate between Jacob and you." The boy nodded. "Now get out of here!"

I walked up to the boy and girl and the boy picked me up. "Let's get moving." He said, and we started moving through the wreckage of the wall. Going through the hole brought us into another hallway, which we went down until we reached another hole, which brought us to another hallway. We continued down there until we reached another place where the graveller had punched through, and as we went through this time, the graveller said to the ninetails; "I really did well with this, didn't I?", sounding rather smug.

The ninetails rolled its eyes. "I'm surprised your ego can fit through these holes." Both Pokémon seemed to be male. The graveller seemed rather annoyed about this but kept silent. This hole lead to a tunnel that it seemed the graveller had dug to the surface. Apparently the facility we were had underground levels. I guessed that the window in the cell had been just above the surface. We emerged from the tunnel in a plain eerily similar to the one I had seen in my dream. I heard a helicopter overhead, and I tried to see where it was.

"That's the Sinnoh Police; we tipped them off about this base not long ago." The boy said, noticing me trying to see where the noise was coming from. On the edge of the plain, there was a forest, which we moved into. We walked along a path until we reached a small campsite. The boy put me down, and he and the girl sat down next to each other on a bench.

Well then, I'm curious to find out what your story is, because you don't seem to be more than a few days old, and yet you act far older, and you can clearly understand me." The boy said, looking at me intently. He pulled out a pokéball, and I tensed up, not knowing what he was going to do. He pushed the center button, and out popped an alakazam. "Alakazam, can you talk to this eevee and tell me what he says?" The boy asked.

The alakazam nodded, and then walked over to me. "Would you mind if I just read your memories instead of talking, it's much faster that way." The alakazam- seemingly female- said.

"Yeah," I said. "That's fine." I felt an odd pressure on my mind. The alakazam's eyes widened. She turned to the humans, probably relaying what she had learned. The humans were shocked. The boy recovered first.

"Well, I was not expecting that. So you used to be human?" He asked. I nodded. "I don't think we introduced ourselves. My name is Ryan."

"And I'm Cindy." The girl said.

The alakazam walked over to me again. "Well, Jacob, I do have a word of warning to give you. If you evolve before your mind can be completely stabilized, your human self will likely be locked out of your head completely and you will just be like any other eevee, besides the fact that you are oddly colored. You will probably meet the other Pokémon in our group later, but I'm not sure if you should stay with us. I would suggest going to Mt. Coronet. This is where the Council of legendary Pokémon meets, and my sources have told me that Mew is being held there to help solve some of the problems that it caused. That is your best bet for stabilizing your mind.

With that, Alakazam walked over to Ryan, who returned her to her pokéball, leaving me to contemplate what she had said.


	7. Chapter 7

**You know those days where the night before you were working on something and you were real excited to work on it more the next day, but when you wake up you just can't think of new ideas for what you were working on so you work on something else instead? Well, this was one of those days for me, which is lucky for the collective you, because I finally made a new chapter! I have been working on a completely original story, which I am not sharing until it is final, which is currently sitting at 11 Thousand words. Anyways, on to the fanfic!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Duh. I do not own Bane, Cindy, Ryan, or their respective Pokémon, all of which are the Intellectual Property of What Lies Beyond**

I eventually decided that I would leave to start my journey to Mt. Coronet as soon as possible. If I was correct, we were somewhere in the Southeast of Sinnoh - which I guessed do to the thickness of the forest as compared to the ones I knew in the West, and It would be at least three days walk to get to the mountain, then another couple of days to climb up to the summit. Right now, it was around midday, and Ryan and Cindy were preparing to leave. Bane had yet to show up, but the Police had entered the facility and had been leading out a steady stream of guards and scientists.

I laid down, deciding to take a short nap before I set out. Unfortunately for me, the moment I had closed my eyes, Ryan decided that he wanted to speak to me. "I don't think that you can stay with us," He said. "Do you think that you will be fine on your own?" I looked up at him and nodded. "Well, in that case we are going to leave, my parents want me home by noon for lunch. So – goodbye." He said, awkwardly. He almost reminded me of a myself. His words echoed in my mind for a while. What were _**my **_parents going to think when they returned home to find that I had been gone for a while? I turned my thoughts away from that. I would find a way to return to normal by then, I told myself, not sure whether I actually believed that.

Once Ryan and Cindy had left, I looked around one more time for signs of Bane. Finding none, I moved back out of the tree line to the clearing. The facility was on fire, black smoke wafting up from somewhere deep inside. There was no sound other than the crackling flames. I looked up at the sky. It was still in the morning, and in the summer, so the sun would be in the north east, if I wasn't mistaken. I took one last look around, holding out hope that Bane would appear. Once again, I found no sign of him, so I turned around, back into the forest, and began my journey.

I confidently followed a path through the forest that seemed to head the way I wanted to go. The forest was thick and oppressive, with only occasional beams of light breaking through to illuminate the road ahead. Once or twice I thought I heard footsteps, but it was only occasional, and the only other signs of life I saw were the occasional chirp of a wild Pokémon, or a half-eaten berry, carelessly strewn along the side of the path.

The further I went into the forest, the thicker the branches became. Eventually it became so dark within the forest that I had to stop and wait for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but after that I pressed onwards, trying to make up for lost time. I kept my mind focused on the present, so it didn't wander, which seems to be what happens, more often than not. After several hours of walking, I heard running water, which caused the realization that I was thirsty. I deviated from the path, eventually finding a small stream running through the dark woods. I took a long drink from the stream, and my mind wandered. I wondered how Bane was doing, why hadn't he emerged from the building, and why had the place caught fire?

I pulled myself back to the present, realizing that I was exhausted. My legs ached, and my eyelids felt like they were each supporting a mountain. I fell asleep, listening to the soothing sound of water over rocks.

I found myself in the same plain I had before, I was once again within a dream, I realized. I was in my human body, and before me stood the eevee. The moon was rising with unnatural swiftness, a countdown to the destruction of the dreamscape by daylight. The eevee spoke, using complete sentences, unlike last time. "You can't keep me here forever, you know. I'm going to break free of this prison, and reclaim my vessel." It said, smugly.

"What makes you so sure of that?" I asked. "If I can make it to Mt. Coronet then-" I said, but the eevee cut me off.

"I have a greater destiny, I am the embodiment of-" He said, before I focused my mind, cutting off his voice. "Well. Just know that you can't keep this up forev-" He got out before the sun rose and the dream dissolved, the rays of the sun provided brilliant red and gold Armageddon for the vivid dreamscape.

I awoke, the eevee's words still echoing my mind. _I'm going to break free of this prison and claim your vessel_. This is what disturbed me the most; the fact that he would take my body and break his prison- my mind.

I stood up. There were some berry bushes along the stream, and I recognized them as Oran berries, which were safe to eat year round. I moved over to the bush and grabbed a berry out using my mouth, careful to avoid the small thorns running along the bush's branches. After I had ate my fill, I set back out on the path, once again keeping my mind focused on one thing – a mantra I repeated in my head over and over, focusing wholly on that thought as my feet moved almost of their own accord. _My name is Jacob Gilroy Young, I live in the south west of the Sinnoh region, I am a human, and my mind __**is **__strong._


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello once again everyone! I am still having a significant writers block on my main writing piece that I am working on, so here I am. I have been really busy, and I wanted to write another chapter sooner, but I simply didn't have the time. Fun fact: I do actually play the trumpet, and the one I use is a Vincent Bach Stradivarius Series 37 Bb trumpet. Since I forgot to do review responses last chapter and I received no reviews on the last chapter, I may as well do those now. **

**GlaceonFan: **I'm glad that you like the new characters (although that thanks should go more to What Lies Beyond than me), and I hope your patience has been rewarded.

**Caitou zzzzzz**: I do agree that it could end up being funny, but I don't think that's where I'm going to go with it. This story is supposed to be darker than A Tale of Two Eevees (in more ways than one), although not like horror movie dark. It's supposed to be more like what you said at the end of your review, Jacob is fighting for his very self.

**What Lies Beyond: **I'm glad that you like the chapters; I enjoy writing them even though I don't update often.

**RainbowBayleef**: I will be updating this more constantly while I still suffer from writers block on my other story.

**Disclaimer: You have been disclaimed. Thanks to the user, YOUR MOTHER, for the pm and the new OC, Static.**

I continued walking until well into the night, my new mantra engrained into my mind. Believing was the first step towards completing a goal; that's the idea behind the placebo effect, I told myself. I remembered reading about a study where Pokémon recovered faster from injuries when given spray bottles of water that they thought were potions, as opposed to no treatment. The ethics behind the study were questionable, but I had found the concept interesting. I thought back to my school science classes, and about home. If I didn't find I way to return to normal, then…

My train of thought was interrupted by the sound of something crashing through the bushes on the side of the road. A Pikachu, about twice my height had stumbled onto the road next to me, its fur a dull yellow in the pale moonlight. We looked at each other for a moment, silently. Suddenly, the Pikachu spoke.

"Hi! My name is Static! You don't look like you are from around here. Want some help finding your way around?" The Pikachu, obviously male, spoke rapidly, his words almost jumbling together as he spoke.

"I guess I could use some help, I'm trying to get to Mt. Coronet." I said, somewhat cautiously.

"Oh! I know where that is! You are heading the wrong direction by the way, I could guide you there!" The Pikachu said. "Also, I could use a little company." The Pikachu said, slower than before. It's ears and tail drooped a bit.

I thought for a moment. This Pikachu seemed trustworthy; it seemed to have only good intentions. Also I felt kind of bad for it, judging from the way it spoke it seemed like it hadn't had someone to talk to for a while.

"Alright." I said. "But I'm getting rather tired; I have been walking all day. Do you know of any place we could stop to rest for the night?"

Static nodded happily, almost bouncing up and down. "Follow me!" he said, nearly tripping on his own feet as he scurried off the path. I followed him, making haste so as not to lose sight of him, as barely any moonlight permeated the leaves, especially off of the path. Static lead me to a small hill, with a small cave in its side. Without another word, I laid down, resting my head on the mossy stone floor. It was a far cry from anything I would accept as a human, but dire times call for drastic measures, and I was exhausted. There was no way I could have kept walking for much longer. I fell asleep to the sound of Static humming lightly from where sat, a few feet to my right.

I awoke the next morning to find Static already awake. "Good morning!" He said. "Ooh, your fur is actually silver, it wasn't just the moonlight. I gathered some berries for us to have for breakfast. You know, I have always wondered what is at the top of Mt. Coronet. I wonder how the weather will be today." Static jumped from topic to topic seemingly at random and without even taking a breath.

I stood up, shaking my head to try and become fully alert. I had pushed myself to hard yesterday; I was still tired and my legs were sore. I should have stopped to take a rest earlier. I moved over to the small pile of berries that Static had made. He was nibbling on one, and there were a plethora of seeds surrounding him. He had obviously eaten quite a few already.

As I moved towards the pile, I passed within a few inches of Static and a stray bit of electricity arced out and hit me. I jumped a bit, my fur standing on end. "Sorry, I didn't mean to!" Static yelped, looking scared.

"It's ok." I replied.

"You - you mean you're not going to hurt me?" Static asked, sounding rather confused.

"No, why would I?" I asked, just as confused as Static sounded, and just like that Static was back to his normal self, but he seemed slightly more – something. I grabbed a berry with my mouth and ate it, listening to Static ramble on about this and that, when I realized what had changed about how he talked. He was more confident, talking louder than he had before, and with more conviction.

I finished eating and looked up at Static. "I would like to get going; I want to get to the mountain as soon as I can." I said.

Static nodded. "Alright, let's get going." He said, before starting off deeper into the woods. I gave the cave one last look around, and then followed. Static moved at a brisk walk, but I was able to keep up. Static kept up his customary monologue, talking about whatever crossed his mind. I barely payed attention to him, but then something he said startled me. "-heard that a boy was turned into a glaceon, and he convinced enough legendries to help him that the whole council convened. I really like watching pidgeots fly. I wonder what a diglet looks like below ground? "

I stopped, suddenly. "What was that" I asked?

Static stopped also, and thought for a moment. "I wonder what a diglet looks like below ground." He said again, confused.

"No, not that, the one about the council." I said, exasperated.

"Oh, that rumor. I heard someone say that a human was turned into a glaceon by Mew, and he was able to convince enough legendary Pokémon to help him that the entire Council of Legends convened to help him. Why do you want to know about that?" He said, but I barely played attention to the last part. Someone had had something similar to what happened to me happen to them and they had made it. This gave me new hope, and I motioned to Static to lead on, and I followed behind, my mind racing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again everyone! I'm still having bad writers block with my main project, but thankfully not with this. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. All characters previously stated as not mine remain that way.**

**Review Responses:**

**Caitou zzzzzz: **Thanks! I think that they will meet eventually, but maybe not in the immediate future.

**What Lies Beyond: **There is a reason why Static is so jumpy, which may or may not be discussed in this chapter (not even I know, I write these before the actual chapter). And yeah, bane will probably be displeased. Just keep in mind that Jacob is still in his mid-teens, so he is rather impulsive and impatient. As a side note, when can we expect the next update on Shifters and Shadows? You had been putting out around two every month, but it has been a while. Not trying to put pressure on you to do it, but I can't stop myself from being curious.

I thought over what Static had told me, my mind taking that sliver of hope and running with it. Would I get back to normal? Would that happen before my parents returned from their trip? Static was still talking, but I paid attention. Suddenly, he stopped, and I walked into him, clumsily. "Shh!" He whispered, his ears twitching slightly.

I could pick up a slight rustling sound, which was getting louder, and fast. After a few seconds, a Raichu crashed through the nearby bushes, coming to a halt when he saw us. "Hehe, I'm glad I found you, Static." He said, his black eyes glinting cruelly.

Static was backing up slowly, physically shaking with fear. "W-what do you want, Amp?" He said, his voice quivering.

"Oh, nothing." The older Pokémon replied. "Just someone to vent on." His cheeks crackled with electricity, and he cracked his knuckles. I found myself filled with rage towards this Raichu. If there was one thing I could not stand, it was a bully. I had dealt with more than my fair share in middle school, and as a result I always stood up for other I saw being bullied, no matter how many times it got me beat up.

The Raichu launched a small bolt of thunder towards Static, who barely dodged it. The air smelled of ozone, but luckily the nearby bushes didn't catch on fire. The Raichu began to charge towards Static, his tail glowing bright white. I was faster. I jumped at him, diverting his momentum and sending him flying diagonally towards a large tree, and he just barely avoided hitting his head on the thick trunk.

"You discolored runt! I'll kill you for that!" He yelled, sounding madder than ever. He got back up, but one of his arms was hanging limply at his side, having bashed his shoulder on the tree. He looked around, probably weighing his chances against the both of us. "I'll remember this, runt!" He snarled at me, before turning away and running back deeper into the forest, in the direction that he had come from.

I looked over at Static. He was still shaking a bit, his eyes wide with amazement. "That. Was. Amazing!" He said, excitedly. "He and the other Raichus from where I grew up would always bully me because I can't control my electricity very well, and he was the worst of them all, and you took him out singlehandedly." I shifted back and forth, rather uncomfortable. As a human, when I had stood up to bullies, the people being bullied would take the chance to get out and run, and at most give me a thumbs up as they left.

"Thanks." I said, and just like that, Static was back off again, talking rapid fire about everything from the weather to what kind of berries he prefers to eat for each meal of the day. He resumed walking, and I followed, pondering the differences in how Humans and Pokémon acted.

It seemed that Pokémon, unlike humans, were more trusting, assuming that someone is good until proven otherwise. Static had agreed to guide me to Mt. Coronet without so much as ten seconds to think about it. Humans would do the exact opposite, likely suspecting that you intended to rob them and then slip away in the middle of the night.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. I was able to tune out Static's chatter, and took solace in my thought. The sky burned a fiery red as the sun set, its burning rays permeating the thick forest. Static lead me to another cave, and it was a bit bigger than the last one we had slept in. "How long until we reach the base of the mountain?" I asked.

Static thought for a moment, then answered. "Should be one more day of walking. I won't be able to guide you up the mountain, however." He then went silent, gazing up at what was visible of the sunset through the leaves. I curled up on the mossy floor of the cave, closing my eyes and embracing the dark comfort of sleep.

I was in the clearing once more, the vast and vivid dreamscape of my mind. As usual, I was in my human form, and the eevee sat before me, looking bored. "Your mind is boring," He complained. "You take everything so seriously."

I glared at him. "A lot of things in the world are serious. And I intend to experience that first hand." I said.

"Yeah, like you will get the chance to do that once the full moon comes around." The eevee said, rolling his eyes. "Once it comes, the pact between Darkrai and Cresselia will be renewed, this body will evolve, and only I will remain. Good luck." He practically spat out the last two words.

I processed what he said, my mind going a million miles an hour. The stars of the dreamscape whizzed erratically across the sky, my thought projected into the heavens. I didn't know what this pact was, but it sounded important. The next full moon should be in four days, if I remembered the newspaper from last week correctly. That had been two days before I had changed.

Four days. That was all the time I had to make it to the top of Mt. Coronet. "I won't let that happen." I said, strongly. The force of my conviction shut off the witty comeback that the eevee had obviously been about to utter. I looked up at the sky. The moon was once again moving fast, the dreamscape would dissolve soon.

"What do you call yourself?" I asked the eevee, out of curiosity. I lifted the mental barrier barring his voice temporarily, allowing him to answer.

"Moonbeam," He said before I shut off his voice. The sun appeared over the horizon, the grassy plain burning away, the sky dissolving.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again everyone! I don't really have an excuse for not putting up a chapter sooner, but I have just been lazy.**

**Disclaimer: This scentence is a statement that serves to inform any and all who read this that I am not the original creator of Pokémon, and any other previously listed OC's.**

**Reviews:**

**Dreamdancer12: **I'm glad you like it! I really do appreciate the feedback, in general it makes me more motivated to write, but doesn't everyone want to be complimented on their work?

**What Lies Beyond: **I personally had a hard time with bullies in elementary and middle school. Most of the school outside of my friend group just ignored me for most of high school, but I would always stand up for anyone who was being bullied. I insert parts of myself or my friends into the characters I write, because when I write someone completely different than how I am or how people I know well are, I just can't get it to feel right with the writing. The way Static talks is based off of how one of my high school friends would act.

I awoke, suddenly, the dream as vivid as usual. Four days. That was all I had. Static was already awake, and eating from the usual small pile of berries he had collected. He was already talking, and he had probably been talking to himself before I even woke up. I walked over, and sniffed at a berry, but I didn't feel all that hungry. "I need to reach the top of Mt. Coronet before moonrise four days from now." I said, trying not to reveal the desperation I felt.

Static considered this for a moment before speaking. It was almost unnaturally quite without him talking. "We should be able to reach the base of the mountain by tonight, but I can't really help you from there." I nodded, slowly.

His response didn't do much to quell my fears. "Well, what are we waiting for?" I asked.

Static shrugged. "I dunno." He said, and started walking, me close behind.

As usual, my thoughts turned inwards as we walked. What was the pact between Cresselia and Darkrai? I knew that they were supposed to be complete opposites, so why is there a pact between them? I pondered this, not readily reaching any conclusions.

I was able to completely tune out Static's talking, over the past few days I had become so used to it that it just sort of faded into the background. I was tugged from my thoughts by a faint roaring in the distance. I looked questioningly at Static. "I'm sure it's nothing." He said, but the look of scared nervousness on his face contradicted his words.

We kept walking, but at a slightly accelerated pace. I heard the roar again, and Static jumped a bit. "We should probably start running now." He said, looking flat out terrified. He gradually sped up into a run, and I followed behind, but I was having a hard time keeping up. Suddenly, Static sharply turned to the right, and I slit a bit trying to turn to follow him.

I followed Static into a small cave in the ground, the entrance mostly obscured by a bush. I heard lumbering footsteps outside the entrance, and the same terrible roar, deafeningly close. "What is that?" I whispered to Static.

"Ursaring." He answered, shortly. "When I leave the cave, wait ten seconds then run to the right. Keep going straight until you hit the end of the forest, you should be able to find your way from there." Static said.

"Wait, what are you-" I said, before Static rushed out of the small cave, and I started counting.

10

"Hey, fatty, were you looking for me?" Static shouted.

9

"Well, well. Looks like lunch came to me after all." The ursaring said, its voice deep and harsh.

8

"Well, if you want me, you have to catch me first!" Static yelled.

7

There was a crackling sound, and the ursaring roared with pain.

6

I heard a commotion from outside, the ursaring was crashing through some nearby bushes.

5

Silence. I counted down the last four seconds, and emerged from the cave. There was a patch of charred ground, and some of the bushes were disturbed. There was no other sign of either of them anywhere in sight. I turned right, and started running.

The forest was starting to become less dense, the thick canopy showing more and more sky. Through the gaps in the trees, I could see the huge range of mountains, their peeks shrouded in mist. After another hour of walking, I finally hit the end of the forest. I stood in the clear area, and I look up towards the summit of Mt. Coronet. The incredible height of the mountain was daunting, and I unconsciously took a step back.

I heard some rustling from the forest behind me, and Static emerged from the bushes, breathing heavily. "Are you ok?" I asked, quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said. "Just a bit winded. I was able to outrun the ursaring, but it took a while to throw him off my scent."

"If you could outrun him, why did we need to hide?" I queried.

Static grinned, still slightly out of breath. "I said I could out run him, not you. You were obviously having a hard time keeping up with my pace earlier, and I couldn't have you slowing me down."

"Makes sense." I replied, nodding.

"Well." Static said, looking up at the mountain. "I guess this is goodbye." He was being quite a bit more solemn than usual.

"Bye, thanks for all the help." I said, and with that, he turned and left, leaving me to stare up at the mountain.

_Somewhere in the woods….._

Bane crashed through the bushes, cursing to himself. He had been on the trail for a few days at this point. "Why in the world did you leave, Jacob. I just had to deal with Pluto…" He muttered, his eyes trained on the small set of tracks on the ground.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello again everyone! I'm currently enjoying Hanukkah, and I hope you all have a merry Christmas! I'm very excited to be posting again, I have overcome my writers block on my other writing project, so I will once again be splitting time between this and that which means that updates will be slightly less frequent. Funfact: I have never broken a bone and have only been stung by a bee once. The way to avoid being stung is to not freak out like most people and just stay calm and mostly still. I have even had bees land on my hand and then just fly away. **

**Reviews:**

**Jolteon of light: **Dealt with this in PM's, and just fyi Chronos was the father of the titans.

**What Lies Beyond: **I thought that it made the most sense to not have Static stick around, although I felt that he was an entertaining character, he served his purpose.

I looked up at the mountain, its peak obscured by the clouds. How was I going to make it up there? I was still a few hundred feet away from the base of the mountain, so I moved closer. As a human I had been pretty good at rock climbing, but somehow I didn't think that those skills would translate well to having four legs.

It was around midday, and the clock was ticking. I had three days to get to the top, so there was no time to waste. I made my way over to the base of the mountain, and started looking for a path upwards. I traveled around the base of the mountain, and came to the general conclusion that there was no best path upwards.

I started up the mountain, going mostly diagonally to try not to fall off of the steep cliff face. I had barely made it ten feet up the mountain when I heard someone call out, "Oh my god, is that a shiny? I have to catch it!". I turned around to see a woman who looked to be in her late twenties. She drew a pokéball out of her bag, and tossed it energetically towards the ground a few feet in front of me.

With a flash of white light, a torterra appeared, some of the dirt from the massive mound on its back falling to the ground. I barely had time to curse to myself before she yelled out "Torterra, use earthquake!" The torterra raised up its massive front legs, and then slammed them back down, causing the ground to shake beneath me. I heard the crashing of rocks above me, and desperately tried to leap off of the mountainside.

Despite the shaking ground, I managed to jump out of the way of the rocks, but as I was concentrating on sticking the landing, Moonbeam's voice echoed in my head, breaking my concentration. "Don't mess up." He said, right before I landed with most of my weight on my front left leg. There was a sickening crack as pain shot through the leg. I fell over, the pain practically immobilizing me. I hear Moonbeam snickering in my mind, which was cut off suddenly with a click.

My mind was torn away from my body, but I could no longer hear Moonbeam interfering with my thoughts. My mind was clearer than it had been in weeks. I tried to visualize my surroundings, and what I saw was… a Rubik's cube? Of course… I had to be inside of a pokéball, that's what the click was. I guessed that this served as a lock of sorts on the pokéball, and served as one that a human could crack but not a Pokémon. Why it was set up that way was beyond me, but I knew how to solve a Rubik's Cube.

I manipulated the image with my mind, and sure enough, within what felt like a few minutes, I had solved it. There was a loud cracking sound, and I regained my senses. Judging by my surroundings, no time had passed while I was in the pokéball. I looked at the splintered shards of the sphere. She had used an ultra-ball to try and catch me.

Her mouth was agape. She recovered quickly, however. "Torterra, earthquake again!" She yelled out, frustrated. The torterra once again raised up its legs, slamming them down. The last thing I heard before I passed out was the woman quietly saying "Oops…", and Moonbeam's quiet snickering.

I awoke, and my leg felt a lot better. The woman had left me where I fell, but had most likely used a potion on me. I guessed I was lucky to not have been found by a greedier trainer. I had no idea how much time had passed, though. It did look like it was morning, however, which only left two days for me to reach the top of the mountain.

"Aww, I was hoping you would stay asleep longer. Ah well." Moonbeam's voice echoed in my mind. I tried to force him to shut up, but I just couldn't do it. "Well, looks like your control is slipping. All the better for me I guess." He said, smugly. I decided to just ignore him. If I couldn't make him be quiet that was the next best thing.

"Ugh, who's making such a mental racket?" I heard someone, seemingly female say, outside my head this time. An espeon had appeared from the nearby bushes, its pink fur contrasting with the green leaves and dull brown rock of the mountain. The espeon stopped short when she saw me. I felt a gentle presence touch my mind, and the espeon's eyes widened. "Oh. Oooooooooooooooh." She said, likely gathering all the information she needed about me right there, which made me wonder if Pokémon regularly did that to humans, and the thought of that made me unconformable.

"Well, you do have quite a bit going on now, don't you?" She said, sounding very concerned. "I can get you part of the way up the mountain, there is a field preventing all but the most powerful psychic Pokémon from detecting anything going on up there or from teleporting there. I only know about it because someone told me. I can bring you halfway up to a trail, and you can walk from there, is that ok?" She asked.

"Yeah." I said. "I would really appreciate the help." The espeon nodded, and put on a look of concentration. I suddenly felt dizzy, as we moved instantaneously up the mountain.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello once again everyone and happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful time over the holidays. I'm a little disappointed at only getting one review, but oh well. This will be one of the last chapters in this portion of the adventure, but not the end of the story. **

**Review response:**

**What Lies Beyond:** I came up with the idea mainly as just a random thought I had that I decided to put into the story. The idea is that the lock is always there, but like a kid trying to solve a Rubik's cube with no prior knowledge, they will never get anywhere. The trainer was mainly there so that I could include this idea. The espeon was the fourth iteration of how he would get part of the way up the mountain, since the first three ideas I tried just didn't seem to work. I hope it didn't come across as being Deus Ex Machina.

**Now, let's get on with the show!**

Almost immediately after I had reacquired my bearings, the espeon had already left. I looked up. It seemed that I was exactly half way up the mountain, but it would still take a while to get to the top, and the trail I was on was thin, and gradually made its way up as it wound around the mountain. I started to make my way along the trail, keeping my mind focused on walking, so as to tune out Moonbeam's chatter.

I had been walking for about twenty minutes without event, when suddenly my foot slipped on a loose rock and while scrambling to regain my footing, I found myself looking down over the side of the trail. I scrambled to the side of the trail to the point where I was right up against the mountainside. I was breathing heavily, and I couldn't help but picture myself falling over that edge.

"Scared of heights, are we?" Moonbeam asked, taking advantage of my broken concentration to mock me. "You'll never make it up the mountain in time." I gritted my teeth, and forced myself to keep moving. As much as I tried to ignore it, I couldn't quite blot out the sound of Moonbeam laughing to himself.

I continued along, traveling along the path, but slower than before. I tried to concentrate on my breathing so as to not pay attention to Moonbeam's infernal muttering. After about an hour my concentration was broken once again, this time my stomach rumbling. I realized I hadn't eaten anything at all today, but there wasn't much I could do about it at this point.

After another hour of walking, the turned right into a dark cave, the entrance only a few feet wide and tall. Not having much choice, I entered into the mountain. It was pitch black, my eyes having trouble adjusting between the midday sun and the blackness of the cave. I could hear the faint dripping of water in the distance.

I kept walking, my footsteps making no sound against the smooth rock. After several minutes of steady walking, my eyes had adjusted to the point where I could make out the walls of the cave. The inside of the cave was much larger than the entrance was, and I could make out the shapes of multiple zubats hanging upside down from the roof of the cave. A few of them flew overhead, moving in and out of the side passages that periodically interrupted the mostly smooth walls of the tunnel.

The cave twisted and turned as it made its way through the heart of the mountain, and after four hours of trekking through the tunnel, I spotted a patch of light up ahead. I moved faster, and exited the tunnel and into the blinding light of the sun, which was about fifteen degrees above the horizon. I took a look around, and to my dismay, the place I had entered the cave was only about seven feet below me.

The path here was wider than the one below, so I ran, desperate to make up for lost time. I still had almost a third of the mountain to climb, and I only had one night and one day left. I kept running past when the sun set, I didn't have time to sleep.

A few hours after the moon had risen, Moonbeam broke his uncharacteristic silence. "Well, I didn't expect you to be this dedicated." He sounded calm, but I saw straight through that. He was every bit as scared as I was. I decided not to gratify him with a response and just kept on running. I wouldn't be able to keep this up forever, but I didn't need to slow down yet. I kept pace until the sun had crested the horizon, causing the sky to burn with color.

I looked once more up at the top of the mountain, and saw that I was almost there. I ran with renewed energy, cresting the top of the hill and emerging on the mountaintop.

_At the base of the mountain…_

Bane looked around, hopelessly. "Where could he have gone?" He muttered under his breath. "The trail leads to here, and then stops." He looked up at the imposing mountain, its summit beyond the clouds.

"Well, hello again." A voice said from behind him, and he whipped around to see the green sprite-like figure of Celebi floating in front of him.

"You have to help-" He began to say before Celebi cut him off.

"His fate is in his own hands. There is nothing you can do for him anymore." Celebi said, patiently. Bane looked up at the mountain once more, and sighs, before Celebi teleports the two of them away.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello again everyone! After this chapter I will be moving into a second part to this story, but this is going to be the longest chapter I have ever uploaded. A huge thank you goes out to What Lies Beyond for providing the character Frost and for helping out with his idea of Absol naming customs, which he seems to have put an inordinate amount of thought into. Also, he was once again the only person to leave a review, once again. I think I will take the time to give thanks to everyone who has favorited or followed this story. I am not trying to solicit favorites, but I just wanted to show that I appreciate it.**

**Review response, once again singular:**

**What Lies Beyond**: The pun was appreciated.

When I reached the summit, the first and second things I noticed were how large the top was, and the multilayered ball suspended in midair. The second thing I saw was Bane running towards me. "You idiot, why couldn't you have waited! I was only-" He said, exasperated, before breaking off.

There was a flash of blinding white light, and a strange horse-like Pokémon appeared, floating a few feet of the surface of the mountain. My hunger and weariness seemed to dissipate, the very nature of my being in awe at the Pokémon. "Behold!" A voice thundered in my mind. "For I have heard your plea even before it was made. I am –" The Pokémon said before being cut off.

"Arceus. Yeah, we know. Do you have to be so dramatic about everything, and what's with that sphere?" Bane said, rolling his eyes.

The creator of the universe huffed. "I do what I want." The ancient Pokémon said, angrily. "And that ball is containing Mew, who was being disruptive." Arceus then turned its attention to me.. "I cannot restore you to your original body" Arceus said, bluntly. The words fell as if I were struck with a hammer, almost physically staggered by his words. I didn't respond.

"The body you reside in is fated to represent the pact between Darkrai and Cresselia; the alternative is the moon at war with itself. This is why you shine with the light of the moon." Arceus continued, somberly. "Your original form no longer exists, it was burned and its ashes scattered. The energy required to reconstitute your body would leave me drained for the next two years." I remained silent, bitter that this journey was all for nothing.

"What I will do, however, is maintain your mind. Your journey to this point has exemplified such pure willpower and determination that it is only fair. Once the full moon rises, you will evolve, and become completely in control of yourself."

"What? No! You can't do that!" Moonbeam cried out within my mind.

Arceus responded, his voice more of an echo as he addressed Moonbeam. "You have shown no virtue, only entitlement and malice."

"But I-" Moonbeam started, before he was cut off by a surge of mental energy, but not my own. In my mind's eye, I saw Moonbeam, cowering in fear before the presence of Arceus.

Finally, I spoke. "What about my parents? They will be getting home in a month, what will I do?"

Arceus gave me a look of pity. "Your parents died. They were climbing a mountain and were buried under an avalanche." I slumped downwards a bit. I felt like crying, but the tears just wouldn't come.

"And I thought my day couldn't get any worse." I said bitterly. I felt hollow, the pillars of my life thrown down before my eyes.

"There is nothing to be done, everything happens as it is fated." Arceus said gently. Suddenly, he turned and looked at Bane. "Your friend is approaching." He said. Right when he finished speaking, an absol crested the hill and approached us, but it seemed that the Pokémon was miscoloured somehow.

As the absol drew closer, I realized that it wasn't a trick of the light; this absol's fur was tinted a pale blue. "Fer'ost-La! Glad to see you!" Bane called out. His voice seemed more guttural when I spoke, and I realized that he wasn't speaking English; he was talking as a Pokémon would.

The absol looked around for a second, and then said, "Good to see you escaped, Cal'le-Sa." I could tell by the voice that this absol was female. She stared at me for a few seconds, and then turned to Bane. "You always do seem to find the odd ones." She said.

Bane sighed. "You really haven't changed much, have you." He said, before turning to me. "This is my friend, Frost." He said, in English this time. "English names are hard for her, so is it ok if she calls you Jai'kob-La?" I nodded, beyond caring at this point.

Frost seemed to study me for a second. "You have a story to tell, I just know it." She said, confidently. Bane gave her a look that clearly conveyed that he disapproved, but Frost ignored him, looking at me, her gaze seeming to look beyond my body and straight into my soul. I didn't really feel like talking, but somehow I knew I should.

"Alright." I said, with conviction. "I will tell you." And so I did. I recounted my entire journey, from my kidnapping to the present. It felt, in a way, freeing. I still felt sad and bitter, but telling my tale seemed to have taken the edge off of it.

Frost stayed silent until I finished. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize how much you had been through, I-", she said, before I cut her off.

"No, don't be sorry. There wasn't any way you could have known. Anyways, I feel better after sharing that." I said. I had never really tended to share my emotions, but I felt a sense of kinship with Frost, and was compelled to trust her. The sun had fully risen, its rays shining down and casting pure black shadows with its intensity.

At this point, Arceus spoke once more. "Bane, you have performed admirably, but there is still much for you to do." Arceus paused or a second then addressed us as a whole. "I don't think it wise for you to remain here all day. Even as we speak, events of great magnitude unfold." Arceus lifted one hoof, waving it lazily in our direction. My vision blurred as we were whisked away from the mountain top.

I looked around. Arceus had placed us on the outskirts of a small town. Bane seemed a bit dizzy, but he shook it off quickly. "Follow me closely." He said, and we walked, heading for the center of the town. The buildings lining the street were placed close together, forming small alleyways that branched off in different directions. A few other people were walking along the street, but not many. It reminded me of my hometown, but I that thought contained, not wanting to think about my parents.

Bane suddenly stopped short, causing Frost to bump into his leg. She grumbled slightly, but Bane hushed her. He snatched a fallen newspaper off of the sidewalk, scanning it intently. "What is it?" I asked, after a few seconds, curiosity getting the better of me.

"It's Pluto. He escaped." Bane said, his voice grim.

I barely had time to process this before a voice called out, piercing the relative quiet on the street. "Hey, nice shinies you got there. Are they for sale?" I looked around, and spotted the source of the voice. It was a man, seemingly in his late twenties or early thirties, wearing a plain leather jacket and jeans. There were three pokéballs strapped to his belt.

Bane gave him a scathing look. "No." He answered.

The man gave a thin smile. "In that case, I think I will take them from you." He said, before pulling off one of the pokéballs and releasing the Pokémon inside, sending out a houndoom. Frost instantly leapt forward, and suddenly glowed with a blinding light. The light faded away, and revealed Frost, mega evolved, barreling towards the houndoom in an aura of purple energy that I recognized as the attack Foul Play.

The houndoom had no time to react, and took the attack head on, sliding back almost a full foot. "Houndoom, use Inferno!" The man called out, obviously surprised but able to stay calm. The houndoom howled, and then blasted a gout of fire towards Frost, who easily avoided the attack. By this time, a small crowd of spectators had formed, a few of whom had to leap away to avoid the blast of flame.

"Flamethrower, at the eevee!" The man called out, and I quickly ran to the side. Unfortunately for me, the houndoom anticipated this and waited, spewing a blast of flame right towards where I stopped running.

I tried to move again, but I knew I wouldn't get out of the way quick enough, and so did Bane. Bane stepped to the side, standing in front of me, and in the path of the flame. He tanked the hit, the flames singing his clothing, but seemed mostly unscathed.

The man was so shocked that he tripped over his own feet. Frost took the opportunity to knock out the distracted houndoom with an Iron Tail to the chest. The man was wide eyed, his face white with shock. "W-what are you?" He asked. Frost gave off another flash of light, returning to her usual form, and walked over, stopping next to me.

Bane gave him a look somewhere between contempt and pity, before turning to Frost and me. "Let's go." He said, shortly, before leading us out of the town. We walked in silence, and after a few minutes Bane led us off of the road and into the nearby forest.

As we walked, I thought about the fight that had just happened. Were people really so greedy as to attack someone who had something they wanted. I knew the answer was yes, but I just couldn't rationalize why. I wondered if this was how all wild shiny Pokémon must feel, constantly coveted, in perpetual vigilance of those who might catch them. Finally, I resolved that I would ask Frost to teach me how to fight later.

After a solid four hours of walking, we reached a clearing in the forest. Bane stopped, and finally broke the long silence. "Alright, we will stop here for today. I'm going to go and try and scout out the area, you two wait here." With that, he strode off into the forest.

I walked over to Frost. "Frost, I was wondering something," I started to say, before she interrupted me.

"Please, call me Fer'ost-Sa. English names are hard to pronounce." She said.

"Sorry." I replied. "I was wondering, do people like that man in the town come after you often?"

"Oh, all the time." She said, seriously.

This confirmed my fear from before. "I was wondering if you could teach me how to fight, I really feel like I need to be able to defend myself." I asked.

Frost nodded. "Alright, sounds reasonable." She said. "When do you want to start?"

"Well, we have time now, don't we?" I asked.

Frost smiled. "Good point." She said. Frost walked over to the center of the clearing, and I followed. "Alright, let's start you off with something basic. Why don't you go over there," Frost said, indicating a tree on the edge of the clearing, "and try and hit me while running as fast as you can. Don't worry, I can take it." She said, confidently.

I moved over to the point she had indicated. She braced herself, and I started running. I focused on moving as fast as possible, and a shimmering blue aura formed around me as I ran. I slammed into Frost, who didn't even flinch. "Good job, considering that's your first time ever attacking." She said. "That was quick attack by the way. Don't worry that you can't do much damage, that will come with time." I nodded, feeling out of breath.

"I think that's enough for today." I said. "It wasn't much, but it was a start."

I returned back to the tree line, with Frost following along a few feet behind. I laid down on the mossy forest floor, and waited for Bane to return.

After what must have been two hours, he returned. The sun was setting at this point, staining the sky a fiery orange. "Did you find anything?" I asked, curious.

"Nope." He answered. He pulled a small ziplock bag of berries out of one of the pockets in his trench coat. "I do have these, at least." He divided the berries into three piles, one considerably smaller than the others. He took the smaller pile for himself, and gave one pile each to Frost and me.

Frost ate her berries enthusiastically, but I didn't eat much. I felt more nervous than hungry. By all sources, I was going to evolve once the moon rose. What would that be like? I had never considered that before.

The sun had all but set, but the moon was not yet visible. Bane had gone to sleep immediately after eating. Frost was pacing around, bored, but not yet tired. The feeling of anticipation threatened to overwhelm me, but I checked it.

Suddenly, Moonbeam's voice rang out in my mind. "Well. I guess this is the last of me. Oh, tragic day!" He said, prepared to give a full soliloquy, before I shut off his voice.

Half an hour later, the sun had fully set, its presence only known by the slightly lighter sky to the west, and the moon was visible. I moved over into the center of the clearing to get a better view. The moon was full, its light shining down on me with untold radiance. I had seen plenty full moons before, but this was beyond the shadow of a doubt the most beautiful thing I had witnessed. It was captivating, and I could do naught but stare up at it.

I don't know how long it was, but at some point I realized that I was myself glowing with the same light as the moon. Even as I gazed, my form shifted and changed, as if my body were fluid. The light vanished from me – and I lost my balance, falling flat on my face.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello again everyone! That last chapter was a monumental effort for me to get done; I spent between 11 in the morning and 7 in the evening straight working on it. I most likely won't make the following chapters quite as long, but I think I'm going to try and at over 1.6 thousand words from now on. I have to say that I am glad to get reviews from more people as opposed to just What Lies Beyond. If you haven't already I would suggest you read his works, we have been coordinating so that some characters are in both of our stories.**

**Reviews:**

**Silverleone: **I'm appreciate the encouragement, and I am glad you liked the chapter.

**Zombie cherno alpha: **I'm glad you liked it, but we have a long ways to go until the end. I honestly don't have a fully fleshed out plan of where this is going, but it's definitely going.

**GlaceonFan: **Thank you! I think there were more than enough clues even without the last chapter to tell that he would evolve into an umbreon. I do hope that my work continues to meet or exceed your expectations.

**What Lies Beyond: **I really do think that that was my best work so far, in no small part due to your input.

I picked myself up off the ground, and looked down at myself. My fur was black, with a ring of blue on each of my legs. The rings were glowing with a strange inner light. Looking around, I was able to see much farther through the night than I could previously. I had pretty clearly evolved into an Umbreon.

I looked back up at the moon, and once again became entranced by it. I lost track of time almost immediately, watching the moon travel across the night sky. The moon had traveled halfway across the night sky before my euphoric state was broken by Frost returning to the clearing.

"Enjoying yourself?" She said, snickering a bit. I glared at her, tearing my gaze away from the moon. "Well, congratulations on evolving, either way."

"Thanks." I said. I felt energized, but I knew I had to sleep. My mind felt lighter than before, which probably had to do with the eradication of Moonbeam. I would like to say that I felt sadness or pity that he was gone from the world, but I couldn't say that in good conscience. He had wished that same fate upon me.

This train of thought, unfortunately, let me to think about my parents, buried beneath the unforgiving rock in the far off mountains of Kalos. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and there was nothing I could do to stem their flow. I curled up at the base of one of the trees on the edge of the clearing, still crying even as I drifted off to sleep.

I awoke the next morning, feeling a bit sluggish. Bane and Frost were already awake. Bane was sitting down, his back against a tree, and when noticed me getting up he stood up as well. "Good morning! Glad to see that you evolved, how do you feel?" He asked.

"Tired." I responded. For the first time I realized how much height I had gained evolving, I must have been three times as tall as before.

Bane chuckled a bit, and then took on a more serious tone. "Ok, so what I have decided that I am going to do is track down Pluto. Do you want to stay with us for that?" He asked.

I considered this for a moment. "Yes, I think I do." I responded. "It's not like I have something else to do or anywhere to go." Bane nodded.

"Alright." He said. "Our goal for today is trying to reach another town to get some supplies." He looked around, spotting Frost in the middle of yawning. He waited patiently until she finished, then asked, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep." Frost answered, still sounding a bit tired. Bane glanced around the clearing one last time, perhaps looking to see if we left any traces of our presence, before setting off. Frost and I followed close behind. We walked for two or three hours before we reached the edge of the forest, emerging perpendicular to a road. The road wound and twisted out of sight in both directions, indicating that we were far away from a town.

Bane pulled a crumpled looking map from one of the many pockets in his trench coat, and unfolded it. He spent a few seconds looking at it, presumably tracing our path through the forest, before he folded up the map and stowed it back in its pocket.

We turned left, which I think lead us northwards, and continued walking. We walked for about two more hours before we reached the outskirts of a small town. "Stay close." Bane said quietly. "We don't want a repeat of last time."

Bane led us to a small convenience store off of one of the town's side streets. The store was relatively small, with a low ceiling and claustrophobia inducing isles between shelves packed with various odds and ends. An elderly man, evidently the owner of the store, was sitting behind a dusty cash register reading a newspaper.

Bane spent five minutes looking around, eventually settling on a medium sized plastic tarp, a small length of rope, and three potions. He brought the items over to the shopkeeper, who didn't seem to have noticed we had even entered. After a few seconds Bane rapped gently on the shopkeepers desk, startling the old man slightly.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't notice you had entered." The old man said, his voice raspy and wizened. His eyes widened as he noticed Frost and me. "Well, bless my soul." He said, his tone of voice displaying his wonder. "Two shiny Pokémon. You must be one of the luckiest trainers alive." The man said to Bane.

Bane grimaced. "Hardly." He said, placing the items on the desk.

The old man consulted a price list taped onto the desk. "That will be 700." The man said, pushing his glasses up his nose a bit. Bane fished around in his trench coat, eventually pulling out the amount of cash he needed. The shopkeeper smiled, brightly, and opened the dusty cash register with a metallic clang. He put the money in, closed it with the same metallic clang, and then looked back up at Bane. "Have a good day." He said, gratefully. Bane nodded in response and headed out of the store, with Frost and I following close behind.

Bane wound the rope around the tarp, compressing it to the point where he could stick it in one of his seemingly infinite pockets, and put the potions in yet another.

We made our way around the town, avoiding main streets when we could and sometimes passing through thin alleyways between buildings. The town was heavily populated, however, and even with these detours we inevitably attracted some attention.

Right as we were leaving, while on the main road of the town, someone shouted from behind us. "Where do you think you're going?", they said, and Bane whipped around, an angry gleam in his eyes. I followed his gaze to see a man, not very old but with short, gray hair. He was wearing a light green jacket and worn looking greens, and was leaning against the side of one of the buildings. I could barely make out the spherical shape of a pokéball in his right hand.

The man grinned, but in a way that conveyed no humor, only malice. He revealed a second pokéball in his left hand, and released both Pokémon, a Lucario and an Infernape. My mind started racing, analyzing the battle in a way I never had before. We had a bad type match up, two Pokémon with fighting against two dark. I didn't have much offensive capability, and if Frost took a hit she was likely down for the count.

The man waved his hand, lazily, and the battle began. In the same flash of blinding light, Frost Mega Evolved, wings appearing outstretched, although it seemed to drain her a bit to do so. The Lucario, seemingly needing no instruction, instantly shot off an Aura sphere towards frost, identifying her as the more valuable target.

Time seemed to slow down, my mind racing. Frost was still recovering from her Mega Evolution, and wouldn't be able to dodge in time. I gritted my teeth, and leapt into the path of the sphere. It hit me in the side, but not with enough force to send me flying backwards into Frost.

The orb stung harshly, and I felt light headed. I felt energy well up within my chest, and I felt slightly euphoric as I channeled the moonlight I had witnessed during my evolution, reaffirming my focus and healing me.

Frost was gathering energy, surrounded by an almost imperceptible halo of light, and I felt a faint wind begin to pick up. I planted myself between our two opponents and her, ready to take any incoming attack. The infernape charged at me, fire forming around its body as it ran. I braced myself for the hit, but it never came.

A massive blast of wind erupted from frost, blasting towards our foes as if they were solid blades. The infernape was thrown backwards, and landed in a heap on the ground, knocked out. The lucario weathered the Razor Wind, but just barely.

"I am bested." The lucario said in English, and turned to its trainer, who recalled both Pokémon. He glanced at Frost and me before turning and running into the town, quickly making a left and vanishing from sight.

In a brief flash of light, Frost returned to her usual form. She was obviously exhausted, but she made no complaint as we followed Bane off of the road and once again into the surrounding forest.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello again everyone! I hope you are all doing well. This may well be the most reviews I have ever received on a chapter, if I recall correctly. I am leaving What Lies Beyond out of the review responses, since we are communicating through PM's (we just reached the 4****th**** page of them). I recently uploaded some short (and one not so short) stories to FanFiction's sister site, FictionPress, which is for purely original stories. If you feel like looking them up, I am using the exact same account name over there. **

**Reviews:**

**Silverleone: **Thanks! I hope I keep it up as well.

**RainbowBayleef: **I'm glad you liked them.

**GlaceonFan: **I may end up doing that, but they can also find berries in the woods to eat, if they are lucky.

**Caitou zzzzzz: **As an umbreon, he's much more defensive than offensive in terms of his actions in battle.

We waked quickly, making haste as we made haste to put distance between us and the town. Bane was humming quietly to himself. It was easy to forget that he was just a teenager with how serious he was all the time. Bane periodically checked his map, though I was unsure how he was tracking our progress through the forest.

After a few hours, I noticed that Frost was limping slightly. Bane was periodically glancing over at her, and had obviously noticed as well. "Frost, want me to use a potion to heal you?" He asked, sounding concerned.

Frost shook her head. "I'll be fine with just some rest, save the potions for when one of us are actually injured."

"Ok then," Bane said. "Do you want us to keep moving, or should we stop?"

"I would like to stop, if you don't mind." She said, now letting her tiredness seeping into her tone. I looked up at the sky. The sun was part of the way across the sky, and it was probably about three o'clock in the afternoon. Frost curled up in a small hollow in the ground, and instantly fell asleep.

Bane looked over at me. "I'm going to go and look around for some berries, you-" He started to say before I cut him off.

"Can I go with you?" I asked. I was full of energy, and needed something to do.

Bane shrugged. "I don't see why not." He said, before setting off. I followed a few feet behind him, as we wove between trees in search of fruit-bearing bushes. Given the fact that it was in the fall, berries were rather sparse around here. After maybe an hour of berry picking, we had found enough to fill multiple of the Ziploc bags that Bane carried around in his trench coat.

We began walking in a long arc, gradually moving inwards, towards where we had left Frost, in a spiral pattern. Suddenly, when we had circled most of the way around, I heard human voices a ways away to the left. Bane, having heard them as well, motioned in that direction, and we silently crept through the sparse undergrowth to the source of the noise. Bane moved doubled over, so as to not be visible to whoever was there. We came to a stop behind an especially large thorn bush, close enough to clearly hear what was being said.

"-don't think we should leave the region, we don't know if the police in Kalos are in contact with the ones here." An unfamiliar woman's voice said.

"It would be idiotic to remain here. Our informants within the Sinnoh police were arrested, and we don't know how much information they will have given up. We will go to Kalos, and that is final." An all too familiar voice said, causing my blood to run cold.

Bane's eyes widened and his face paled. Pluto's voice was unmistakable, with his slightly raspy tone and harsh but logical demeanor. My systems flooded with adrenaline, and I felt ready to charge out there and fight. Bane noticed that I was tensing up, and shook his head, pointing back towards where we had left Frost.

After forcing myself to think it over, I came to a conclusion that agreed with Bane's decision. If we were to attack them now, we wouldn't be able to take out most Pokémon that they could have with them, since Frost was our main offensive powerhouse. We would end up fleeing, and Frost would have to go from sleeping to running in an unrealistic amount of time.

I heard the roar of an engine, and as it started to grow quieter I poked my head out from the side of the bush and saw the unidentified woman driving away on an ATV, while Pluto sat behind her. It felt wrong to let Pluto get away like this, but nothing good could have come from attacking. It was extremely unlikely that Pluto would travel completely undefended.

A minute or two after the duo had disappeared from sight, Bane stood up, and began walking the arc once more. I lingered a moment, staring off to where they had disappeared, and then followed. After circling around two more times, we headed back to Frost to find her still asleep.

Bane sat down on a rotten log, looking pensively at the ground. I paced around the area, thinking over the significance of our encounter with Pluto. He said he was going to go to Kalos. I swallowed nervously, trying to keep the image of a mountain from entering my mind. Was I ready to go there, so soon? I wasn't entirely sure. I wanted to pursue Pluto, but I felt an irrational need to avoid that region.

I heard a yawn behind me, and turned around to see Frost waking up. "Alright." Bane said, his elbows on his knees as he rested his head on his clasped hands. "Jacob and I found out that Pluto is heading to Kalos." He said, and then filled Frost in on the details of our encounter. "The nearest seaport is a ways to the east, but I don't have enough money for a ticket." He concluded, frowning. "We would either need to find a friendly Pokémon that could make the journey, or…"

Bane paused for a moment, thinking about something. "I think I may know the solution to our money problem." He said, after a few seconds. He pulled an extremely crumpled piece of paper out from one of the innermost pockets of his trench coat, as well as his map.

"Well, it's going to take a day or two, but there is somewhere on the way to the seaport where we can _hopefully _get some money." Bane said, stressing the word hopefully. "Anyways, let's get going."

He stood up, taking one last look around, before starting out. Frost and I followed, staying a foot or two behind him as we walked. I passed the time as we walked by simply watching the trees pass by, and catching glimpse of the setting sun through the thick canopy of leaves provided by the forest. An hour after the moon had started to rise, we reached what seemed to be the burned out shell of a house.

Bane seemed exhausted, but he jogged over to the blackened mess of support beams and ash, pulling out the wrinkled piece of paper once more. He moved to where the door to the place would have been, and began counting his steps. He zeroed in on a spot, and began using a fallen piece of wood to dig into the ground. I sat down on the ground, wanting to rest my legs. After a few minutes of digging, there was a dull thunk as the piece of wood connected with something.

Bane put down the plank, and reached down into the hole he had created, pulling out a dull and rusty metal box, latched shut but with no lock. Bane tugged on the latch a bit, and it lifted with a nasty scraping sound. Bane lifted the lid on the box, and rummaged through it.

After a second or two he pulled out a small wad of paper bills, one of which I saw was dated twenty eight years ago, likely preserved by being sealed in the box for so long. Fortunately, Sinnoh hadn't changed its money for over thirty years, so the bills would still be valid. Bane put the money in one of his pockets, then continued rummaging through the box. He took out a small piece of paper, and stared at it for a few moments, a look of sad reminiscence on his face.

Pocketing the piece of paper, Bane sat down, resting his back on one of the charred support beams. Frost set out into the forest, obviously rather restless. I curled up, looking at the rising moon as it traveled across the sky.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello again everyone! I hope everyone is doing fine. I just realized that I messed up the year on the money last chapter, it should have been 35 years instead of 15. I will change that ASAP. I have been rather busy over the past few weeks, but I had this week off, and I went to visit family in a different North-Eastern state. I wrote this entire chapter and the start of the one after on the car ride back. Another factor involved with the tardiness of this chapter was he new hero released for Dota 2, which I couldn't help but play like 10 games of. I hope everyone is doing fine, and is in a warmer place than I am right now. With wind-chill the temperature got down to -45 Fahrenheit on the 16****th****.**

**Caitou zzzzzz: **Yeah, Bane has had a rough past, as we may be seeing in the next few chapters.

**GlaceonFan: ** There is going to be a lull in the action for at least the next chapter, then it may pick back up again, but I don't really plan out chapters fully, and its more I just think of events that could happen and just see where it goes once I start typing.

**Anyways, on with the story!**

I awoke to find Bane still asleep, but Frost was awake and pacing around the burnt building. I yawned, not feeling terribly rested. Noticing my movement, Frost ceased her pacing and greeted me. "Good morning." She said, calmly. "You need to stay up later; you should see all the life that emerges at night."

I considered this for a moment. "I guess I will." I said, shortly, and then glanced over at Bane, his face in sleep seeming years younger than it did otherwise. Suddenly, he shifted in his sleep, and his eyes snapped open, instantly alert and searching the area for anything out of the ordinary.

Seeing that it was only the three of us in the area, he relaxed, stood up, and stretching out his arms. "Alright, we want to get going as soon as possible." He said. "But first, breakfast." Reaching into his coat, Bane pulled out the bag of berries we had collected, and grabbed a small handful.

He once again split the berries into the piles, and offered one of the two larger ones to Frost, but she shook her head. "I went hunting last night, I'm not very hungry right now." She said. Bane nodded in response, and clumped all the berries back together, then dividing them into two more even piles. He gave one of them to me, placing them on the cleanest surface he could find, that being a leaf that must have recently fallen off of a nearby tree.

I ate the berries, not having quite noticed how hungry I was. Bane ate his share of the berries, picking them one at a time out of the palm of his hands. Once both of us were done, we set off at a fast jog, in the hope that we wouldn't fall too far behind Pluto. It was probably foolish, given that he was on an ATV, but never the less we still tried.

A few hours later, we stopped at a pristine stream to rest and quench our thirst. The sound of the water flowing over rocks was soothing, and it alone was seemingly enough to reinvigorate me. If there were any other creatures in the immediate vicinity, they were skilled hiders, as I neither saw nor heard any sign of life besides the trees, their long limbs shielded in green leaves so thick that it was hard to see the sky.

After a few minutes rest, we once again set off, making haste as we continued our journey eastward. The rest of the day past without event, save for the occasional set of Pokémon tracks crossing our path. We stopped for the night at a tree, seemingly ancient and towering above the other nearby trees. Its gnarled branches stopped all light, and being in its shadow was as night.

After a few minutes, a thought came suddenly into my mind. I turned to Bane, and then asked, "What was that piece of paper you took out of the box?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. Bane gave me a somber look, and then sighed. He reached into the depths of his trench coat, and pulled out the piece of paper, flipping it around so that he could see it. It was a picture of three people, the youngest of them obviously being Bane, but with some striking differences.

In the picture, his hair was blond, and his eyes were hazel. He had none of the features that identified him as anything but human. And yet, despite all that, the biggest contrast was how happy he looked in the picture. I had never seen Bane that happy, that carefree. The other two people in the picture both were blond with blue eyes as well. "Was this before Pluto…" I asked, trailing off.

Bane nodded. "That's me and my parents in the picture, it was taken a week before it happened, I think. The things in the box were all I had with me right after I escaped. I figured I would have no use for it, so I just buried it in an abandoned house. I did, however, make a map of the area." He said, before continuing, lost in the story of his own past.

"After that, I tried going home, but the only person who would help me was my friend, Cecile. She gave food, water, and a place to stay for a while, but eventually I had to leave. Pluto's men were after me, and I stayed too long, and-." Bane stopped, and sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to burden you with talk of the past."

I shook my head. "It's no big deal." I said.

Bane chuckled. "Good to hear it. But, anyways, she got hurt, but I still wonder where she is, after all these years. It's been five years since I talked to her, and given time travel, it will have been twenty two years for her." Bane then set out, making his customary circle around the campsite.

Frost walked over to me. "Want to do some sparring?" She asked.

"Sure." I replied, and followed her over to a small clearing, several yards away from the tree.

"Alright." She said. "I won't be going easy on you this time." With that, she began charging at me, her tail glowing white in an Iron Tail attack. My mind went into overdrive, my heart pounding. I wouldn't be able to dodge in time, so I braced myself for the hit. I twisted slightly sideways at the last second, taking the hit to my side instead of my head.

I slid back an inch, and instinctually launched into a Feint Attack, ignoring the pain. This caught Frost by surprise, and she was baited into jumping sideways, into my real attack. Frost was knocked down, but she got back up after a few seconds. "I didn't know you knew Feint Attack." She said, impressed. "You caught me off balance with that attack."

"Neither did I." I responded. I closed my eyes, and the soothing moonlight stored up in my rings healed the forming bruise on my side. I looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, igniting the western sky with its proud fire. In the east, the moon was barely visible, its subtle brilliance reaching me through the clouds.

Frost and I spent the next hour or so resting. Near the end of that time Bane returned, and he fell asleep nearly instantly. The sun had set, and the moon shining bright. Frost stood up, and turned to me. "You ready to go?" She asked.

I nodded in response, standing up as well. Silently, I followed her off into the night. My eyes rapidly adjusted to the dark, and almost instantly I was able to distinguish the sound of scurrying feet, and I could see in the distance the shapes of Pokémon gathering food and whatnot. Frost and I split up at some point, taking different paths through the forest.

I silently padded along, taking in the sounds and sights of the forest. I had never imagined that so many things went on at night; I had always associated it with sleep and nothingness, not life and activity.

Eventually, I found myself at the top of a small, treeless hill, just standing there and staring up at the moon. I must have fallen asleep at some point, because I found myself still at the top of the hill, the moon just beginning to set over the horizon. I felt more rested then when I had had with a full night's sleep. I could make out the tree where Bane was, it indeed did tower over all the others.

I made my way through the twilit forest, reaching the tree just as the sun began to rise. Frost was already there, pacing around the tree. Bane was still asleep, lying down on the soft ground a few feet away from the roots of the tree. His map was lying on the ground, so I walked over and took a look at it.

This tree was marked as a landmark on the map, and by the looks of it, with luck we would reach a seaport by midday tomorrow. I took one last look up at the moon, before it was overpowered by the sun, and waited for Bane to wake up.

After around two hours, Bane woke up, once again instantly alert and scanning the area for threats. We went through our morning routine, with Bane divvying up they berries, although this time Frost partook in them. By the time we set off once again, the sun had cleared the horizon. As we walked, I found that I was able to better discern the telltale signs of life in the forest, such as the nearly imperceptible sound of scurrying feet off in the distance.

Making good time, we reached the seaport, a rather small town of which almost half of was the harbor. Bane looked nervous, but he confidently let us past the town limits and into the town. The town was laid out very orderly, with the streets forming a perfect grid. Thankfully, we didn't attract any attention as we made our way down towards the docks.

Ignoring the signs offering luxury cruises, we made our way down the docks, until Bane stopped short. He laughed out loud, and then walked over to the door of a rather rundown shack-like structure, out of place with the modern travel agencies lining the street. He entered, Frost and I right behind him.

The room we emerged in was dimly lit, and there was an old man sitting behind a desk. He was wearing a vest that seemed to be full with fishing equipment over a t-shirt. The man raised his eyebrows when we entered. "Well, that was unexpected. You're looking rather young, Caleb." He said, his voice slightly raspy but still full of vigor.

Bane scratched the back of his head. "It's a long story, Marty." He replied. "Are you still in business after all these years?"

Marty blinked a few times. "I guess. Don't get a lot of customers anymore, with these big companies and their big boats and whatnot." He said.

"Well, we need to get to Kalos, and fast." Bane said.

"I can do it, but you will have to pay. Can give you a discount though, if you tell that story on the way." Marty said, after considering for a moment.

Bane smiled. "Alright, how much?" He asked.

"Twenty grand." Marty replied. Bane counted the money he had, and then, after a few seconds he forked over the correct amount. Marty smiled, and I counted three missing teeth. "Do you want to leave now?" Marty asked.

Bane nodded, curtly. Marty stood up, and led us out across the street, surprisingly limber for his apparent age. We stopped in front of a metal boat, no larger than a normal rowboat. There was no motor attached. Marty climbed in first, followed by Bane, then Frost, then me.

Marty fished around in his fest, and then pulled out a pokéball, very well polished but obviously an older model. He clicked the button, and an exceptionally large Lapras appeared in the water. Marty grabbed a harness that was sitting on the floor of the boat, and clambered on to the Lapras's back. The Lapras allowed itself to be harnessed, and Marty tied off a rope on the harness to a metal ring on the front of the boat.

Marty got back into the boat, then yelled out to the Lapras, "Go, Nellie!", and the Lapras began swimming, picking up speed so fast it was like the boat wasn't even there. In twenty minutes the harbor was lost in the mists behind us, and Marty turned towards Bane. "Why don't you tell me this story now, then?" He asked.

Bane nodded. "Well, after you got me to Kalos last time…" I tuned out their conversation, preferring to just watch the waves and hope that I didn't get sea sick.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello again everyone! I had a relative pass away last week, so this chapter was delayed some. I have been rereading The Lord of the Rings, for like the eighth time now. Oh how I long to write something even a quarter as brilliant, then my works would be truly great. One thing I have come to realize about my writing is that it is pure escapism, and any deeper meaning there is to be found in it stems wholly from that.**

**Review responses!**

**Caitou zzzzz: **The idea with him is that he needs energy from the moon, but no, he is not weakened under the sun. Frost just likes the night better.

**Silverleone: **I'm glad you liked that line.

**GlaceonFan: **Yeah, there is no way they could reach Kalos first.

I watched the sun rise behind us, as we came into sight of Kalos. I felt a looming sense of foreboding, although I knew not why. The wind was blowing from in front of us, a lazy breeze of fresh air from the shore. Bane had fallen asleep who knows when, leaving Frost, Marty, and me to sit silently as the metal boat made its way in the Lapras's wake.

As we drew closer to shore, Marty began humming what must have been a sea shanty, by the tempo and style of it. The great Lapras, having been silent for the entire journey, joined into the song. Her voice was soft, and I couldn't catch any of the words. There were a few moments of silence after they finished before Marty let out a tremendous sigh, full of reminiscence and longing for a time long past. At length, he called out, likely intending to rouse Bane. "Oy! We're almost ashore!"

Bane snapped up, whipping his head around, before remembering where we were. He relaxed immediately, and surveyed Frost and I. I was lying down on one of the wooden planks that served as seating for the boat, resting my head across my front legs. Frost was curled up on the metal bottom of the boat, being much too large to fit on a seat.

Turning my gaze back towards shore, I could make out the faint figures of a small number of people working on the docks. As I watched, a motorboat zoomed past us, its wake rocking the metal hull of our small ship.

We got within a few feet of the sandy shore, a few yards away from the main docks of whatever city this was. Marty leapt with great agility from the boat to the shell of the Lapras, belaying his old age, deftly removing the harness. Recalling the Lapras as he jumped down into the water, he called out to Bane. "Hey! Help me pull the boat in, my muscles aren't what they were."

Bane grimaced, but never the less stood up, careful to not rock the boat too much. We were a foot or two from shore, and so Bane leapt ashore, the sudden change of weight distribution causing the boat to sway violently.

With their combined effort tugging on the robe attached to the boat, they easily pulled it onto the land. I stepped over the edge of the boat, falling a few feet and landing lightly on the soft sand, only now beginning to heat up from the sun's rays.

Frost exited the boat a few seconds later, obviously happy to stretch her muscles after spending so many hours on a boat. Bane turned to Marty. "Thank you so much, I –" He said, before Marty cut him off.

"Don't mention it." Marty said, his eyes bright. "It had been too long since I was out on the sea. Goodbye, kid." With that, he turned away and walked into the heart of town, quickly rounding a bend and disappearing from sight.

Bane turned his gaze from the spot where Marty had been, and looked around. "Let's avoid towns as much as possible." He said, at length. "Don't want to deal with any more people wanting to battle." With that, he wheeled around, quickly striding towards the outskirts of the town, Frost and I close at his heels.

We quickly left the town, entering into a forest. This one was not nearly as thick as the forests of Sinnoh, with much younger trees and light generously streaming down to the forest floor. We followed no path, weaving our way between the trees, a telltale trail of broken sticks all that marked our passage. Bane seemed much more lively than usual, a spring in his step as he walked.

At midday we stopped at a small stream, lined by rocks, which wound lazily through the forest. The area was beautiful, the sounds of life all around. I wished we had more time to stay, but alas we moved on as soon as we had quenched our thirst. We put a great many miles behind us that day, and it was about an hour past sunset before Bane called us to a halt. The moon had rose to a quarter of its full height, and it was in a waning gibbous, although still bright.

"Alright, I'm getting pretty tired." He said. We weren't anywhere specifically memorable, although there was a hollowed out trunk of a tree laying on the ground a few yards away. "We should be a few days walk from Lumiose City, a big city located in the center of the region. With luck we should be able to find someone who can help us there." Bane laid down, his back against a tree as always, his trench cloak drawn around him. Frost and I set out in opposite directions, as silent as shadows across the ground.

This time I paid close attention to the path I took, as there were no significant landmarks for me to navigate with. I eventually found my way to a pristine pond, its surface glassy and reflecting the brilliant moon. I looked down into the water, and stumbled backwards in shock.

I moved closer once again, staring down at my reflection. I had not been mistaken; my old body was staring back at me. Blue eyes met yellow as I stared at my old face, complete with glasses, unclean for lack of care, just as I remembered. In the reflection, I was wearing my usual outfit of jeans and a t-shirt, the shirt slightly torn near the bottom from an encounter with a thorn bush. I brought my paw down towards the water, my reflection doing the same with a hand. Tears welled up in my eyes, shattering the glassy mirror of water.

"The reflection shows what was meant to be." A female voice spoke from behind me. I turned around, angry at this intrusion on my sorrows. A purrloin walked up next to me, sitting down at the edge of the pool. She stared into it and then spoke again. "I knew I couldn't be the only one, but what a coincidence that we should meet here, of all places. At this bitter reminder of what was lost." I joined the purrloin at the edge of the pool, and took in the vision of her reflection.

The pool was all still once more, and in it I saw a girl, maybe a few years older than I, with long raven black hair and startling green eyes. "So, when did it happen?" She asked, after a minute of silence.

"A little over a month ago." I responded, tears threatening to overcome me once more. "What's your name?" I asked, in a feeble attempt to distract myself from my emotions.

"Miranda." She said, and paused, before asking "What's yours?"

"Jacob" I replied, shortly.

"So, Jacob, what brings you here?" She asked, standing up, and pawing at the ground slightly.

"I'm from Sinnoh, but I came here to Kalos to find and get revenge on the person who did this to me." I said, gesturing at my body. I don't know why, but I instinctually seemed to trust Miranda. I guess it was because she was the only person who could relate to my exact situation.

Miranda turned away from the pond. "Follow me, there's someone I want you to meet." She said. I took one last look at my reflection, soaking up every detail I possibly could, before turning and following Miranda into the night.

We walked for maybe half an hour, before we came to a wooden house set into a clearing. A dirt road led off into the distance, and a beat up looking car was parked upon it. We walked up a ramp to the front door, and Miranda pressed a paw into a miniature doorbell that as barely a foot off the ground.

After a few seconds, the door creaked open, and a woman in a motorized wheelchair was made visible. She caught sight of us, and said cheerily "Oh, hey Miranda! I see you brought a friend. Come on in!" The woman turned the wheelchair, and deftly piloted it into the house.

I followed her, taking in the bookshelves full of humongous textbooks that lined the walls. She led us into a study area, with a rather large laptop sitting upon an old looking oak desk. The walls of the study were lined with newspaper articles and some grainy pictures. With a closer look, I noticed that all the articles were about sightings of strange people, mostly people with Pokémon characteristics, but a smaller portion of people who transformed into Pokémon.

The woman looked over at me. "My name is Cecile, and I'm a Pokémon researcher. Miranda, could you tell me more about your friend here?" She said, pausing between the two sentences. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. Cecile picked up a small tablet, and put it on the ground.

Miranda moved over to it, and began typing. I looked over her shoulder at what she was putting down, and saw _he's like me_. Cecile was arranging some things on her desk, but promptly dropped them when she saw that. Her eyes widened, and suddenly something clicked. I remembered where I had heard the name Cecile before.

I looked up on the wall at one of the grainy pictures, more prominently displayed than any other. It was Bane. I turned to Miranda. "Tell here I know where… Caleb is." I said, pausing slightly.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello again everyone! I am currently on a trip, so I decided to use some of the travel time for writing. I have decided to incorporate love into this story as well, despite the darker tone that I feel this story has. I do think that I have already done a better job with writing it than in A Tale of Two Eevees, so there is that. This chapter is going to be a bit shorter, partially because my laptop is running out of batteries, and partially because I probably should have** **gone to sleep 40 minutes ago as of when I posted this.**

**Review response: **

**Glaceonfan: **Yes, it does. I will be introducing a new subplot in this chapter, and then we will see the return of someone old next chapter.

Miranda and I made our way through the forest with blazing speed, running in the general direction where I had left Bane. I wove between trees, leaping over fallen logs and stray thorn bushes. The moon illuminated our path, and my rings' glow pulsating at the edge of my vision as I moved in and out of the moons rays. I skid to a halt near him, the shower of dirt waking him up instantly.

"What? Who's this?" He said, quickly, after immediately noticing me.

"She's a friend." I said hastily. "I found Cecile – she is living in a cabin a ways to the east." I slowed down a bit more, although my heart was racing from my run to get here.

Bane looked shocked. He was at a loss for words momentarily, but he quickly regained his composure. "Well, what are you waiting for, lead the way!" He exclaimed, a light stronger than the moon burning in his eyes. He jumped up, the dirt that had landed on him falling away.

We moved no less fast, Bane easily keeping pace. As we ran, Miranda introduced herself, filling in Bane on the nights' events, which I appreciated. With someone else here to speak I fell into my old habit of silence. On the way we ran into Frost, who was surprised to see us, but followed along, asking no questions. Within half an hour we reached Cecile's home, its windows dark besides one which blazed with light.

Bane knocked on the door, and nearly instantly Cecile opened it. She must have been waiting by a window and seen us approach. Bane just stood there, his yellow eyes locked with Cecile's green, tears welling up in both.

Bane bent down, and embraced Cecile as she bent forward and returned the gesture. "Oh, it has been so long. But how do you look so young?" She said.

"It's a long story, but I'll fill you in." He said, releasing her from his hug at length. They began chatting, and Miranda slipped inside. Frost still stood outside, watching Bane and Cecile. I followed close behind Miranda, and we moved to the upper level of the house, which consisted of a small landing with two rooms coming off of it. The floor was covered in a generous layer of dust, due to the fact that Cecile was confined to the bottom floor. There was a window overlooking the front porch, with a padded bench at level with the base of the window.

Miranda gracefully leapt up onto the bench, and I followed, albeit more clumsily. After a few moments of silence, she spoke. "So, you never told me your whole story." She said, her tail swishing lazily, like a pendulum off the edge of the bench. I sighed, and then began. I started from the beginning, pouring out every little detail, every single experienced that I had retained. I once again Miranda remained silent the whole time, gazing into my eyes with odd intensity.

She was quiet for a second or two after I finished. "Four weeks." She said, softly. "You lasted a full four weeks with your mind under assault by your Pokémon aspect. I barely lasted one. I wish my will was that strong." She almost whispered the last few words.

"Well, why don't you tell me what happened to you then?" I asked, also quietly.

Miranda sighed, almost seeming to mimic me. "I was born and raised in Kalos, in a small suburb of Lumiose City. My parents are rich, obscenely so. I lived an extremely sheltered life; I can't imagine having that little freedom anymore." She said, shaking her head. "One day, the security guards for our house turned on us, and kidnapped me. Then…" She paused.

"My memory gets hazy here, the next thing I remember was waking up in this body, and then _she_ began attacking my mind." She said, shivering despite the lack of cold. "It was horrible. I couldn't make her shut up, like you were able to. I don't remember how I escaped, maybe they even let me go. The next five days were the worst of my life. I wandered around, not fully in control of myself. She compelled me to hunt, to kill innocent Pokémon. I guess I can thank her for that, in a perverse way."

She was still staring into my eyes, just as intense and unwavering as before. I almost caved. Thank Arceus that Xerneas found me when it did." I recognized the name – it was always big news when a legendary Pokémon was sighted or captured, no matter the region. "It makes sense, I suppose. Two souls in one body would be a beacon of life force. Anyways, Xerneas quickly summoned a powerful psychic Pokémon of some kind, and I was once again in control. She was expelled from my mind, good riddance."

She dropped her gaze for the first time in the past hour. "I was hanging on by a thread. By the time the psychic arrived I was almost gone, I can't clearly recall what it was. This was two years ago. My parents still think I'm dead, although it's probably for the best." I could detect a sharp bitterness in her words.

"I only met Cecile a few months ago." Miranda continued. "She is a Pokémon researcher, although not many respect her work. She focuses on what happens to humans when they become Pokémon, or are fused with them. She has a hard time getting funding, most people either think it's bogus or just don't want it to be studied."

Miranda scooted to a distance that I felt was uncomfortably close to me, but for whatever reason I just accepted it. Once again I felt that odd desire to trust her. She curled up next to me, and I followed suit, staring at the moon in the window long into the night, eventually drifting off to sleep.

I awoke the next morning, the sky already bright with the rising sun. Miranda was seemingly still asleep. I carefully got up, making sure not to disturb her rest. I meandered down stairs, my legs a bit sore from all the running the previous night.

Bane and Cecile were downstairs, sitting at a wooden table and talking quietly. They seemed to have not gone to sleep at all, and an old looking Pokémon I recognized as a gogoat was walking around, and acknowledged my presence with naught but a nod.

Bane heard the stairs creaking slightly as I descended, and turned to look at me. "'morning!" He said, stifling a yawn. While descending I caught a glimpse of a map of Kalos on the table, as well as a locket of some kind. "We are going to be staying here for at least another day." He continued. "After that we are going to be heading out again, Cecile knows someone in Eastern Kalos who should be able to help us." Cecile had a sad look on her face, but it was gone as quickly as it had come.

Miranda came down the stairs behind me, making less noise than I had. "Either of you want anything for breakfast?" Cecile asked.

"I'll translate for you guys." Bane offered.

"Thanks. Could you tell her that I don't need anything? I'll find something in the forest." Miranda said.

"I think I will do the same." I said, deciding that I would rather just go find some berries. Miranda and I began walking towards the door. When she passed by Cecile, Cecile reached down and petted Miranda a few times, causing her to arch her back and purr.

"Don't give me that look, it feels nice." Miranda grumbled as we walked out the door. We set off into the forest, and almost immediately found a bush of berries. We both ate a few, but decided to continue walking.

"Could we go to that pond again?" I asked after a few minutes.

"I guess." Miranda responded, shortly. She led me through the forest, and after a while we reached the Pool of Perfect Reality, as I had decided to call it. We sat together by the edge of the water, staring through the still water at our old selves. The reflections were the same as they had been last night, besides for one thing. Now, our reflections were unmistakably holding hands.

I decided against pointing this out, and to my relief she did the same. I knew what it meant, and it sent my mind racing. Was this how I really felt? Did we both see the same reflections that the other saw? We spent maybe twenty minutes just staring down at our reflections, and I finally realized why Miranda had referred to this place as wretched. What could be gained by dwelling on the past, on what might had been? There was nothing here for either of us, save sadness and some small introspection.

I stood up abruptly, and she followed suit. We walked away from the pool, making our way back to Cecile's home, engaged in an intimate silence.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello again everyone! I have once again found myself with a generous amount of free time without a good internet connection, which means that you, lucky reader, are getting your second chapter this week. I am on my way to a performance with the Jazz band that I play with in Nashville, which also provides a welcome escape from the frigid north. It's supposed to be 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and rainy, which is absolutely lovely when compared with 20 degrees before wind-chill. **

**Review Responses:**

**GlaceonFan: **That's not something that I had considered before. I will give it some thought, but I think that that's not quite the direction that I want to take things. Even so, I won't completely ignore the idea in my thinking. You can rest assured that this won't be a perfect little love story where no one ever has a problem.

**AdmiralDaala1492: **Dealt with in PM's

Miranda and I returned to Cecile's house, the door still slightly ajar. We walked in, greeted by the same sight we had left to, save Frost, who was lying down on the carpet in the living room off of the entrance hallway.

She beaconed us closer, and we walked over to her. The elderly gogoat followed, ambling over. "So, how are you all holding up?" She asked, cheerfully.

"We're doing good." Miranda replied, glancing over at me. I nodded my affirmation, satisfied to let Miranda do the talking. "I don't believe we have been introduced."

"Well, my name is Fer'ost'aan'lu, but you can call me…" Frost turned to me.

"Frost." I said.

Frost nodded apologetically. "Sorry, I have a hard time pronouncing names from human speech. Could you tell me your name?" Frost inquired.

"I'm called Miranda." Miranda replied.

Frost mulled this over. "Mir'aan'rei-su. Is it ok if I call you that?" She asked, after a few seconds.

"It's quite all right." Miranda said. "So, you are going with Caleb and Jacob to hunt that guy, Pluto?"

Frost nodded, solemnly. "He has caused enough suffering. To Jai'kob, to Ca'le'Sa, and to Arceus knows how many others." She said. Miranda asked no questions about this, seeming to be able to decipher the names that Frost used without much effort.

The gogoat, who had been silent, finally spoke up. "So, you are like Miranda?" He asked me. His words came slowly, and each one seeming deliberately chosen.

"Yeah." I said.

"Hmmm. I can never figure out how humans are willing to inflict such suffering on their own kind. What an odd species." The gogoat concluded. The room fell silent after this, before Miranda broke it.

"I don't know, I really don't." She said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. She turned to me. "Let's go outside, I want to talk with you in private." She said, standing up abruptly. Frost raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

I followed her outside. Once we had walked what she deemed a sufficient distance away from the house, she stopped, and I halted alongside her. Our eyes locked, and for the first time I matched the intensity of her gaze. "When you leave tomorrow, I'm going to go with you." She said. It was a statement, and a decisive one at that.

"What? Why?" I asked, startled a bit. I blinked a few times, realizing that I hadn't for almost a minute.

She gave me an exasperated look. "Don't be so daft, you know why. I know you saw the same thing I did in the pond."

"Oh." I responded, awkwardly, at a loss for words.

Miranda cracked relieved smile. "I may not have as much willpower as you, but I'm defiantly better at reading emotions." She said.

"Yeah, yeah." I grumbled, glancing down at the ground for a second. When I looked up, Miranda had moved closer to me, the gap between our faces only a few inches. I stumbled backwards out of surprise, losing my balance and falling backwards onto my rear.

Miranda laughed – a clear sound that tugged at my heart, lifting me to joy. She leaned in even closer and gave me a small kiss on the cheek. It lasted only a second, but at the time it felt like an eternity. She laughed again upon seeing just how much I was blushing, which is not something easily noticeable through fur, and then began walking back towards the house. I followed close behind, trying to regain my composure.

We went back inside, earning another raised eyebrow from Frost. I responded with a glare, which was met with a snicker. Miranda ignored these shenanigans, and we went upstairs, our presence acknowledged by a wave from Bane, who was still engaged in conversation with Cecile.

Glancing back, I could see several different lines drawn on the map from before. It was about mid-day, and the sun was at its peak. We took up the spots we had been in the previous nights, although I no longer found it uncomfortable.

I felt content lying there, and I drifted off into a light sleep. I awoke to Miranda nudging me. I looked around, and she gestured to the window. "There's someone coming." She said. I looked out the window, and saw the figure of a young man walking down the driveway towards the door.

He had a satchel like bag slung across his right shoulder, and he walked with a confident gait. He wore a new looking pair of jeans, and a plain green T-shirt. There was a small commotion downstairs, probably Bane noticing someone coming. I began heading downstairs to see what was happening, and Miranda followed close behind.

Bane had obviously been stated, as proven by the chair hastily moved away from the table. He looked relaxed though, and Cecile was in the process of moving to the door. There was a knock on the door, and Bane pulled it open.

Now that I got a closer look at the man, it seemed that he was in his early twenties. He looked rather agitated, and focused on Cecile, paying no mind to Bane. "There are some goons searching the forest for something, and staking out the road here. They ran when they saw me, but they definitely had Pokémon on them.

He ran his fingers through his already messy black hair." I'm so used to idiots still wanting to fight me with their pichus that it's actually rather disturbing to see someone smart enough to run." He said. "If the average person walking around is willing to challenge their region's champion, then there is something off about anyone who won't."

Cecile chuckled. "I'm sure that you and your Pokémon's desire to beat something up is playing no small part in this judgment, Oliver."

Oliver looked exasperated. "Aren't you worried about these guys out there?" He asked.

Cecile raised her eyebrows. "Not when you're here. If you scared them off by just walking, then they definitely won't attack now. Why don't you stay a while though, we may need some help. There was a light beeping sound, and Oliver rummaged around in his bag, eventually pulling out an Ultra Ball.

"Is it ok if I let Xerneas out? It doesn't quite like being cooped up for long periods of time." Oliver said. Miranda gasped, quietly.

"Sure, just not inside the house." Cecile said. Oliver nodded, and turned back towards the doorway. There was a flash of light, and a quiet thud as hooves touched dirt. Miranda darted towards the door, and I followed behind, albeit not as hastily.

Xerneas was a beautiful creature. The deer-esque Pokémon's horns shone with every color of the rainbow, and its body was covered in blue fur. Miranda was looking up at it in awe. "What a pleasant surprise, young one." Xerneas said. Its voice was quiet but strong, fitting for a creature with such vast powers over life.

"The echoes of the other are all but gone from you, although they still ring fresh in you." Xerneas said, turning towards me. "With such an uncommon shared experience, it's no wonder you two are together. I glanced over at Miranda but she didn't seem startled in the slightest.. Xerneas chuckled. "It doesn't exactly take Mesprit to tell that you are in love with each other."

Bane overheard this, and poked his head out of the open door. "Gossip! My favorite!" He exclaimed, grinning widely. I gave him a pointed look, and he went back inside, more amused than before. A few seconds later, he stepped back outside, a more serious look on his face.

Oliver recalled Xerneas, and we all went inside. A bench had been pulled up to the table, and Miranda and I both used it as a step to get up to where we could see the map. Frost just stood on the bench, being tall enough to have full vision of the map from there.

"Alright." Bane said. "So we are definitely under surveillance. Oliver, you will provide a distraction, scare them off or draw them away, whichever ends up working. Cecile will use the distraction to get in her care and get out of here, and we will slip away to the east." He said, indicating a route marked on the map. "We are going to find a glaceon named Avery, another one like you two." He said, gesturing to Miranda and I. "If anyone knows where Pluto is holed up, it will be him."

There was a sudden splintering sound as the door cracked and fell inwards, and as the dust cleared, the slightly hunched form of Pluto was made visible. "I would never be 'holed up', that would be most unfitting for someone of my wealth. His voice was raspy, the last month and a quarter hadn't treated him well.

Bane, overcoming his initial surprise, charged straight at Pluto, aiming to tackle him. A pink wall of force appeared and repelled his charge, bouncing him backwards. Thinking fast, Oliver tossed a pokéball down, and a Gardevoir appeared. "Go! Find Avery!" He shouted, and the gardevoir teleported away in an instant.

Suddenly, a mew appeared next to Pluto. "Ooooh, just what I wanted to happen!", it giggled. "Revenge!" At its words, a strange gas started flooding the room, and everything faded to black.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello again everyone! I hope you are doing well. I had my concert on Friday, and it went great, which was quite the relief. Today my band got to record at RCA Studio B, the studio where Elvis recorded pretty much all of his hits, which was really cool. What Lies Beyond and I have finally worked out most of the issues with the interconnections of our stories. I would suggest that you go check out Shifters and Shadows for more of Bane's story. By the way, congratulations if you find the Shakespeare quote in this chapter.**

**NOTE: If you haven't checked my story since the 25****th**** of march or earlier, try backing up a few chapters to find where you left off.**

**NOTE 2.0: Re-uploaded this because I missed a paragraph. **

**Review responses:**

**WyldClaw: **Cyrus is not Jacob's grandfather, although the grandfather was an associate of Cyrus. It seems that you are going through chapter by chapter, so you should get here eventually. I feel that your exclamations about other chapters don't require responses.

**GlaceonFan: **Thanks! I am still considering that. I don't remember there being a plasma bomb at any point in the games, are you referring to the bomb team Plasma used to awaken the Lake guardians? If it's not that I have no clue.

**Caitou zzzzzz: **Mew is just about completely consumed with anger at this point, and would honestly try and kill Avery.

I returned to consciousness, and immediately felt panicked. The cell that I was in was small, the outside of it once again a circular lab, full of incredibly complicated looking equipment. I could see Cecile in the center, strapped down to what seemed to be an operating table, struggling against her bonds. Pluto was standing in the center of the room. I could see Bane, Oliver, and Frost in the cells across from me, but everyone else was probably in other cells around the room. Bane had a desperate look in his eyes, and his hands gripped the bars of his cell. Pluto looked around, expectantly.

"Well, it seems that everyone is awake." He said, jovially. "You know, if I were a bit younger I would stand here and gloat about my victory." He glanced over to someone I could not see. "Start the procedure." He snapped, and instantly a middle aged man in a white lab coat began briskly walking towards Cecile.

"No!" Bane yelled, and banged his fist on the bars.

With a flourish, the man picked up a syringe full of a clear fluid, brandished it in the air, and then injected it in Cecile's arm. I looked away. Cecile cried out in pain, and I could hear her panicked breathing from here. I chanced a look up. The man had undone the restraints, but Cecile made no move to escape. She began glowing with a strange, piercing light, and her form began to change.

I was pulled from this grotesque sight by a sudden chill in the room. Pluto was backing away from the door, as ice formed on the handle. The door rattled on its hinges, and then blew open, as a fully formed blizzard forced its way into the room. A beam of Ice shot through the storm, freezing the bars on Frost's cell.

She gave a shout of triumph, and hit the bars with an Iron Tail attack, shattering them instantly. Frost then began hounding Pluto into a corner. Miranda had somehow escaped her cell, and ran and grabbed a key that the man had dropped. She ran over to Bane's cell, and tossed the key inside.

Bane unlocked the door, and then quickly ran around the room, releasing everyone else. Reaching me last, he turned the key in the lock and ran over to Cecile, who seemed somewhere between human and Pokémon.

I turned my attention to Pluto, who was backed up against the wall. The snowstorm dissipated, and two glaceon, one slightly larger than the other stepped forward, encircling Pluto along with the rest of us. Pluto remained silent, a neutral look on his face.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" A voice asked from behind us. The larger of the two glaceon whirled around, shouting "Mew!" I turned around as well, to see the pink Pokémon floating lazily in midair behind us.

Mew laughed, and it was a cruel sound, devoid of humor. "I thought you were smarter than this, Avery. I expected you to think things through before coming here. You see, ever since I was released by Arceus a few days ago, I have had one thought on my mind. Revenge!" Mew seemed to savor the word. Pluto shifted, impatiently. "That is why I approached Pluto – to strike a deal that would benefit both of us. He gets rid of several thorns in his side, and I get to have –" Mew said before being cut off by Pluto.

"Mew, that's enough, get on with it already!" Pluto snapped.

Mew looked slightly amused. "Shut up, I don't need you anymore." A sphere of force appeared around Pluto, blocking his cry of outrage before it could reach our ears.

Mew resumed his monologue, but it was muffled. The voice of Arceus whispered in my ear. "Bearer of the moon-pact, have no fear. I am watching." Then it passed, and I could once again hear Mew, and just in time. "-and so no one can stop me!" Mew said, and then began glowing with power. Avery unleashed a blizzard, but Mew merely shielded itself, and waves of energy began radiating out from Mew.

I leapt in front of Avery, and I felt dark energy stirring inside me, nullifying the huge psychic blast. "Fool!" Mew shouted. "The last umbreon who tried this disappeared with the breeze, his energy overwhelmed!" I could feel it happening. My energy was expending itself to nullify Mew's attack, rolling off of my body in wisps.

Suddenly, a foreign energy seeped into me, augmenting my power. My body visibly burned with dark flame, and I began walking towards Mew, with slow, deliberate steps. Mew ended his attack, and began charging an aura sphere.

Miranda, having scaled a pipe that ran up a wall and across the ceiling, leapt onto Mew's back, breaking his concentration. Mew fell to the ground with the sudden change of weight, and the aura dissipated into nothingness.

I rushed over and put a paw on Mew's chest, the black flames evidently paining the cat-like psychic. I looked over at Miranda. "Thanks, that speed things up quite a bit." I said, and she nodded. Looking around again, I saw that Oliver and two of his Pokémon, a Greninja and Lucario, had Pluto surrounded, his prison of force having dropped along with Mew.

"Get off me, you filthy mut!" Mew hissed, struggling against my paw, his psychic powers locked off by my dark aura.

Bane had left Cecile's side, and was advancing on Pluto. "It's over, Pluto. You won't hurt anyone ever again." He said.

Pluto laughed derisively. "Very well, I am caught. But know this, you will suffer. You have cut the head, yet the body may lash out." He said, spitting at Bane after the last word. A look of rage came across Bane's face.

Bane grabbed Pluto, his claws digging into Pluto's arm, drawing blood. "Get off of me, you inhuman dog!" Pluto cried, but Bane only tightened his grip.

"I am more human than you will ever be." Bane said, barely audible for me as he whispered. He released Pluto, who sank to the ground, clutching his bleeding arm.

"The police are on their way, they will deal with him." Oliver said, slipping an odd looking device back into his pocket.

Avery stepped forward. "As for Mew…?" He said, questioningly. As if on cue, the voice of Arceus boomed like thunder in the room, and Mew's expression changed to one of terror.

"Did you take me for a fool, Mew? Did you think me blind to your hatred, or gullible as a newborn? I let you go because I hoped you to better than this, greater than petty revenge. But you have proven me wrong, and this time your punishment shall be without end!" Mew vanished before my eyes, and the presence of Arceus left the room, the dark fire surrounding me extinguishing itself.

I heard the sound of footsteps, and three police officers entered the room. Oliver waved them over, and they relaxed, recognizing their region's champion instantly. "Here's the prisoner." He said, dragging Pluto to his feet by the uninjured arm. "If you are looking for charges against him, try Crimes against Humanity, Kidnapping, and probably Murder and Tax evasion." He said, coldly. "I'm able to testify for the first two."

"Thanks, Oliver." One of the cops said. "This guy sounds like a real scumbag." They handcuffed Pluto, and lead him off, prodding him along with liberal use of a nightstick. Bane looked rather dubious as they left, but said nothing.

I heard Cecile groan from the center of the room, and Bane rushed over to her. I looked over, and saw what exactly had changed about her. She had large ears, covered in light purple fur, marking her as being hybridized with a delcatty. Her eyes seemed to slant slightly downwards, shifting her facial structure slightly. Her fingernails had lengthened into small claws, and she had a mantle of fur in that same lilac color about her shoulders. Despite all this, the most noticeable thing was the tail. The length of it was covered in tan fur, but it was tipped in a puff of purple.

She was silent for several long moments, but eventually mumbled something incoherently. Bane visibly relaxed, and then picked her up, making towards the exit of the room. Everyone else followed along, besides Miranda and I.

Miranda looked over at me, and I met her gaze, momentarily lost in the emerald wells of her eyes. For the first time I was truly struck by how beautiful she was. "Let's get out of here." She said, and we followed behind the others, eventually exiting the twisting, ice scarred halls, and up a flight of stairs into the forest beyond.

The forest was illuminated with naught but moonlight, but we quickly discerned where in the forest we were, and with about an hour's walking we reached Cecile's home. We were still trailing behind the group a bit, and Miranda stopped outside the door. I stopped next to her, waiting expectantly.

After a few seconds, she spoke. "I have decided that I want to go see more of the region, and I want you to go with me." She said, decisively.

I raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't really sound like I have much of a choice in the matter." I said.

"No, you don't." She said, sounding satisfied. "And you better get used to it." She added, a few seconds later.

"I guess I'm going to have to." I said, cracking a grin. Miranda smiled, and then went inside. Cecile was lying down on a sofa, evidently asleep. Avery and the other glaceon approached us.

"So, I have been told that both of you used to be human." Avery said. "I won't pretend to know you well, but I had the same thing happen to me. If you ever happen to be up north, feel free to stop by. I have quite a few people who drop by regularly to bring news, so we shouldn't be hard to find."

Miranda nodded. "Thanks, we will be sure to do that." She said. The two glaceons walked away, leaving us alone once more. I took another glance around. Bane was sitting down at the table, chatting quietly with Frost. Oliver was being stomped by his Lucario in a game of chess.

Seeing nothing to do, I went upstairs, Miranda following close behind. We went up onto the bench, and laid down, Miranda snuggling up next to me and letting out a content purr. The moon was fully risen, shining down on us as we drifted off to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello again everyone! It really does not feel like a year ago that I first published this story, but it was so. I'm not going to make a big deal out of it, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I do want to extend a thanks once again to I apologize for the delay between chapters, after spending so much time working on it at once I was pretty burnt out. Either way, I figured that a whole month's break would be too much, so I started writing this about a week ago.**

**Reviews:**

**GlaceionFan:** I am not sure that I am, I can't see it fitting in to the story. Yeah, I thought it was a nice tie-in for that. Well, I get reviews because a lot of people, including you, seem to like my work. I guess I kind of got lucky that people stumbled across my work, and found it interesting, which has paid off in the form of reviews. I really do appreciate everyone who leaves reviews, it always feels rewarding to check on the story and see that there is a new review.

**Caitou zzzzzz**: I felt that it would be too much fan service for there to be too much interaction. I am willing to admit that both characters are based on aspects of me, but not in a way that is self-insertion per say. Avery is idealized, everything I like about myself with none of what I dislike. Jacob has all the same flaws as me, besides a choice one or two. I took these things and then filled in the rest of their personalities off of what was there. Jacob would not seek to change what is, as he is resigned to his fate because of what Arceus told him, and he is too much of a reactive person to change it. He has great strength of will, but he rarely applies it.

I was lifted from sleep by a gentle prod from Miranda. "Wake up sleepyhead!" She said, smiling happily.

"You couldn't have let me sleep for a few more minutes?" I grumbled, but nevertheless got up, blinking in the bright morning light. "Has Cecile woken up?" I asked, a few seconds later.

Miranda's smile quickly diminished, becoming a slight frown. "No, not yet. She's in the same state she was last night." She said. "Anyways, the reason why I woke you up is because Bane and Frost want to talk with us." We lazily made our way downstairs, in no particular rush.

Bane was sitting at the table, staring blankly at a wall. Frost was pacing around the room. Bane straightened up in his chair, turning around as he heard us walking down the stairs. "Good morning!" Frost said, cheerfully.

"Good morning to you as well." Miranda said, politely. "So, what was it that you wanted us to talk to us about?"

Frost and Bane exchanged glances. "Well, Frost and I were thinking that we would go looking for Ho-oh, as I promised her not long after we met. We weren't sure if you wanted to come along, Jacob, so…" Bane replied, slowly, before trailing off.

I looked over at Miranda. "My time is already spoken for. Miranda and I are going to go and explore the region." I said. Miranda smiled, appreciatively.

Bane nodded, giving that same grin he had had when he overheard Xerneas. "I understand. When will you two be leaving?" I glared him, but Miranda remained tactful.

"We aren't entirely sure, but defiantly after Cecile is awake." She said.

Frost nodded. "We were pretty much planning the exact same thing." We all fell silent after this, and Frost resumed her pacing. I spotted the gogoat, who at this point I was getting curious as to his name, but I decided not to ask.

I wandered over to the study area I had been in the night I met Cecile, and Miranda followed me, either out of boredom or a desire to stay close by my side. The room was exactly as I had remembered it, although I did pay closer attention to a few things this time.

The thing that really caught my attention was a calendar, heavily scribbled upon and seemingly hastily tacked up to the wall, such that it was lopsided. The last day that was crossed off was marked with a much straighter line than the others, presumably the work of Bane or Oliver instead of Cecile.

I had to crane my neck to make out the date, but if I saw correctly today was the fifth of September, meaning my birthday was tomorrow. For the first time it struck me how badly I had kept track of the date, probably because I was so used to having a calendar to rely on.

I glanced over at Miranda. "So, apparently it's my birthday tomorrow, I hadn't been paying attention to what date it was." I said.

Miranda's eyes lit up. "Really?" She asked. "How old will you be?"

"Seventeen." I answered. "Please don't tell Bane or Frost though, I don't want the extra attention."

Miranda did seem a bit disappointed, but she didn't voice it and just nodded. We stood there for a few seconds, looking up at the calendar. Miranda turned towards me. "I don't think you have been properly introduced to Rowan, the gogoat, let's go talk to him some." She walked out of the room, and I followed behind. Looking out the window, it was rather dreary outside, gray clouds warning of coming rain.

We walked over to Rowan, who was in his usual spot in the living room. He was watching Cecile, who was still out cold on the sofa. After a few seconds, Melinda cleared her throat, and Rowan slowly turned around, grimacing slightly as he shifted position. "Avery was never actually introduced to you, so I figured now was as good a time as any." She said.

Rowan nodded, in the same slow manner. "I suppose." He said, his words noticeably drawn out. "Well, my name is Rowan. I have been Cecile's pet my whole life, and since she was injured I have helped her out with whatever she needs me for." He paused for a few seconds. "By your standards, a boring life, but I have never wanted more."

"I'm Jacob, as I'm pretty sure you have heard." I said, rather awkwardly.

"Of course." He responded, and looked back over at Cecile.

There was silence for several seconds, before Miranda broke it. "Thanks for taking the time to chat." She said, and she turned to me. "Let's go upstairs." She said. We headed up, and both sat down on the windowsill. I looked out, seeing the rain begin to fall, its pitter patter on the roof slowly escalating.

"You know," I said, after a minute's silence. "I feel almost… lost. Like I don't have a path to follow, no goal to fulfill." I looked over at Miranda. "And it's really bothering me. Back when I was human I would have willingly spent my life just playing videogames, but now…" I trailed off, my thought half formed.

"Then follow me." Miranda said, meeting my gaze.

I found myself almost pulled in, quickly getting lost deep in the wells of her eyes. "I will." I said, with conviction. Miranda moved closer to me, snuggling up. I didn't feel really like that my pseudo-question had been answered satisfactorily, but I put it out of my mind.

All of a sudden, there was a great clamor from downstairs. Miranda jumped down from the balcony and ran over to the stairwell, looking down in the direction of the living room. "She's awake!" She called out, and hurried down the steps.

I stood up, and rushed down after her. Cecile was sitting on the sofa, looking extremely disoriented. Bane was sitting next to her, talking quietly. "It's… just a lot to take in." I heard her say as I moved closer. Miranda and Rowan were sitting a few feet away from the couch, and I joined them there on the wooden floor.

Cecile was looking down at her lap, and remained much quieter than she normally was. "Could you bring me some water?" She asked Bane, who quickly obliged. I looked over at Miranda, who was somber, but smiling faintly.

Bane returned with a glass of water, and Cecile accepted it readily. Bane remained standing. She swished her tail around, examining it closely, and then let out a sigh. "I don't know what I'm going to do." She said, tears welling up in her eyes. "How can I be a part of society now?"

Bane let out a similar sigh. "I don't know." He said. "I spent too much time avoiding people to know how it could happen." He avoided meeting her eyes as he said this, glancing down, at the walls, anywhere but at her.

"I need to rest." She said, and shifted herself so that she was once again lying down. She had to manually drag her legs back up onto the bed, but I thought I saw one of her feet twitch. I put it down to just being my imagination, and moved on. The rain had stopped, and the skies visible out of the window were once again clear.

Bane moved back into the main room of the house and sat down at the table, staring blankly at the map there. Miranda stood up, moving towards the door, and I followed close behind. We slipped outside, and sat down on the porch, not saying a word, just looking out over the unpaved road leading to who knows where.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello again everyone! I hope you all are doing well. This is going to be one hell of a fast paced chapter, so be ready for that. Bonus points if you can find the Lord of the Rings reference. Unfortunately, I have been exceedingly busy, and will continue to be so until summer. I will be taking a break from fanfiction until the end of June. It's only a week longer than the space between the last few chapters, but still I don't people to be disappointed. I hope everyone reading this has had a good memorial day, and will have a wonderful June. **

The next day came and went without event. We were in somewhat of a routine now, Miranda and I. We spent almost the entire day together, whether we were chatting with Cecile or just hanging out. At midday the day following Miranda and I informed Cecile that we were leaving in two days; Bane had already told her the same about him and Frost. She accepted the news with a sad smile, and carried on. On the third day of this, I awoke to the sound of thunder booming overhead. Miranda was somehow still sleeping deeply, oblivious to the cacophony.

At the moment I came downstairs, Bane entered the house, soaking wet, and carrying two equally soaking plastic bags filled with groceries. "Hey." I heard Cecile call out from the living room. A few seconds later, she _walked_ out, leaning slightly on Rowan for support. Bane promptly dropped the grocery bags, cursing as a carton of eggs could be heard shattering on his feet.

It was as if the house was completely different, now that Cecile could walk again. Her legs were still weak and she couldn't walk for long stretches at a time, but she was regaining the use of them quickly for not having done so in so many decades.

Bane figured that she regained her use of them as a direct result of the change Pluto had induced in her. Now that she was up and about, she was happier than I had seen her since she first saw Bane, despite the knowledge that she would be alone with Rowan come the next day.

That night, I dreamt of death. I saw myself, as a human, walking into what seemed to be a lake, only to be crushed by a massive wave of water. Just as it hit me, a massive voice boomed across the dreamscape, saying "Only you can prevent this, Jacob.", and the dream cut to an orb that was as if it were filled with a rainbow, illuminating a dark cave.

I awoke with a jolt, to find Miranda just sitting up, and staring out of the window. "You were shifting in your sleep." She said, and turned her gaze towards me. I told her of the dream and a look of absolute terror came over her face. "That's… I had the same exact dream. I thought it was just a nightmare, but now…" She said. I shivered slightly, although I was not cold.

We looked at each other for a few seconds. Miranda sighed. "Looks like sightseeing is going on hold." We sat in silence for a while as the sun rose into view, and Miranda rested her head on my shoulder. We went downstairs and saw Cecile sitting down at the table.

Miranda instantly went over to her, and I followed along, a few steps behind. Cecile noticed us, and said "Bane and Frost left a few hours ago, they told me to say good bye for them to you."

"Do you happen to know anything about a rainbow orb?" Miranda asked.

Cecile nodded her head, fervently. "Orb of Colors." She recited from memory. "Has been responsible for twelve confirmed transformations of humans into Pokémon, but likely so many more unconfirmed. It's hidden deep in a cave somewhere on an island in northeast Kalos, but no one has ever found it on purpose." She let out a great yawn. "Why do you ask?"

Miranda glanced over at me, and then told Cecile about the dream. Cecile pursed her lips. "Well, that sounds pretty important then. Are you going to be leaving immediately?"

Looking over at Miranda, I met her gaze, and gave a slight nod. Miranda turned to Cecile and said "yeah, I think we are."

Cecile nodded. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and save the world or whatever." She said, smiling.

"Well, goodbye then." Miranda said with a chuckle.

"Goodbye." I echoed, shortly.

Cecile gave a wave, and Miranda and I turned, leaving the room, and then the house. I was sad to go, but happy to be out again, and to have a purpose once more. We oriented ourselves with the sun, and set out into the forest, moving with a sense of urgency. If the fate of the world truly stood in the balance, we had no time to lose.

We ran in silence, propelled by this sense of impending doom hanging over our heads. We stopped at a small stream to refresh ourselves, but still we talked not. We carried onwards, singularly focused. Eventually, I broke our long silence. "Why do you think it's always people like us who end up having to deal with this? Aren't there real heroes, or at the very least stronger people than us?" I asked.

Miranda was silent for a minute, pondering my question. "I don't know." She admitted. "Bad luck I guess, being in the right place at the wrong time? Or maybe the legendries see us as stronger than an everyday Pokémon but easier to influence than humans."

I pondered her insights, eventually figuring that the latter was the most feasible. We kept up our pace, leaving the forest a little after midday. By the time that the sun was receding from the sky, we were in eyesight of the coast, stretching down from below the rocky cliffs. We picked our way down the slopes, and continued our journey across the beaches by the light of the moon.

Even as the moon began to set, an island became visible a ways off the coast, a gut instinct telling me that this was our goal. As I moved towards the shoreline, a shimmering bridge, almost as if it were a mirage, lifted itself out of the water before us. Wasting no time, we pressed onwards. We reached the edge of the bridge, and saw a discarded bag, as well as fresh footprints in the sand. Someone had made it here before us.

The cave was the only distinct feature of the island, and we went in without hesitation. We were enveloped in darkness, but given our nature that was not a problem. We moved through the twisting and turning tunnels, picking our path through pure instinct. We eventually emerged into a familiar chamber, illuminated by the Orb, but we were not alone. A man with jet black hair was holding the Orb, marveling at its inner light.

He turned around, seeing us. "Pawns of the Council, here to stop me?" He said, his voice saturated with malice. "Well, I'm afraid you are too late." He held up the Orb and began chanting in some strange language. Almost quicker than I could comprehend, Miranda gave a tremendous leap forward, snatching the tennis ball sized orb out of the man's palm. "No!" He yelled, whirling around. Miranda braced for a rather hard landing - and slipped on the cave floor. The orb flew out of her paws, shattering on the cave floor with a great cacophony.

The light inside was released, and congregated around the man. He cried out in terror, but slowly his screams turned to insane laughter. He was like nothing I had ever seen. His form was warped beyond recognition, but he radiated blinding, piercing light.

"Die fools!" He yelled, and shot out a blast of light before running away. The light impacted me, and it felt as if my body was being stripped away.

I closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes.

I looked down at my now human body, thankfully clothed, then up at the mew that had just appeared staring at me. IThe man was gone to who knows where. It spoke, rapidly, its voice distinct from the one that had allied with Pluto. "Ok, so this is a problem." It said. "I shielded you from most of the blast, but some of it got through, and, well…" Its voice trailed off.

I looked over at Miranda, who was also human, as her reflection in the pool had been, and even more beautiful than I remembered. She was looking down at herself, but still asked "Why are we human?"

The mew responded, slowing down a bit. "That man, Turin. The light he shot out reversed the effects of your transformations somehow. You will have retained most of the abilities you had as a Pokémon, I think, but until this is reversed the moon is going to be at war with itself."

"How do we reverse it then?" I asked.

The mew produced a small stone, which seemed to be filled with swirling, inky, blackness. Handing it to me, the mew said "This. Just touch it too that guy and it should reverse his transformation, and restore anything he did after it happened."

I clenched the stone in my fist. "Where is he?" I asked.

The mew closed its eyes, and in a swirl of nauseating sights, teleported us to the surface. It was immediately clear where the man was, as he was standing right in front of us. The moon overhead was patchy, some spots filled with light and others darker than I could comprehend, and its flickering pained me to see. Looking out into the ocean, I could see dark, ominous waves, a reminder of my dream.

I took a step towards Turin, slightly unsteady from lack of practice. He turned around, similar to what played out only moments ago. "Well, that was unexpected." He chuckled. "But still, if you couldn't stand against me as Pokémon, what makes you think you can do better as humans?"

In that moment, several things happened. He shot a blast of light at Miranda, who took a grazing hit and cried out with pain. The mew became trapped in a glowing prism of light, struggling to get out. I leapt forward, emulating the move Feint Attack to dodge the man's retaliatory strike, and with an open palm, slapped the stone forcefully into his sternum.

He instantly stopped radiating light, and began to change back to how he was before. He seemed to be almost frozen in place. I felt myself changing as well, shrinking back down to an umbreon. Slowly, the moon began to right itself, restored to a waning crescent. The mew gave a triumphant shout, bursting out of the prism.

I ran over to where Miranda had fallen, now back in the shape of a purrloin. Her back left leg was badly burned, all the way to the bone. I looked over at the mew. "I thought you said everything would be reversed?" I said, panicked.

The mew chased its own tail in midair. "I thought it would." It said, not seeming to care all that much. "Oh, and good job getting it done so fast, much longer as a human and you would have driven yourself insane from the shock of the change." I glared at the mew, then ran over to Miranda.

Turin looked over at us, his expression blank. The mew moved over to him. "Turin, you should know that any one of the council could have easily stopped you." The man looked down, shamefully. "You thought that gaining all that power would finally get the people in your life to notice you, but you were wrong, and I'll get to that in a bit. The reason that these two were sent to help out is to set an example. " The mew said indicating us. "They are complete outcasts. He was orphaned and her parents never cared enough about her to go looking. And even still, they have compassion. You lacked compassion Turin, that's why people didn't care for you. Not because you were weak, not because you weren't cool. You weren't kind. Think of all that you ruined on this pointless quest for power, and ask yourself if it was worth it."

I paid no attention to mew's monologue, and instead studied Miranda's injury. She was out cold, but still breathing. After the mew had finished speaking, I walked up to it. "Could you do anything to help her?" I asked.

The mew nodded its head. "Healing isn't my specialty, but I should be able to." It floated over to her, and placed a hand on her wound. It healed itself in seconds, and Miranda opened her eyes.

"Is it over?" She asked, quietly.

"Yeah." I responded, equally quiet.

Miranda sat up abruptly. "Well thank Arceus for that then." She said. I looked over towards the coast of Kalos. The shimmering bridge stretched out before us, and we set out, without as much as a backwards glance at the island. "You know, this whole thing just made me even surer that if I ever had a choice, I wouldn't go back to being human." Miranda said.

I mulled this over for a while before I responded. "I wouldn't either."


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello again everyone! I'm back from the hiatus, maybe a few days later than I had planned, but I now have a large amount more free time than before. It seems that this story has made it into the Pokémon's Best of the Best C2, so a big thanks to whoever got that added, and I am glad that my story was deemed good enough. I finally read a few of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books recently, I would defiantly suggest those to any fan of fantasy looking for a good read. I use a bit stronger language at one point in this chapter than in previous ones, although most people won't care I think.**

I never since have felt even close to as tired as I did that night, my energy taxed beyond measure by a day spent running and the transformations I had endured. I suppose that I fell asleep almost immediately, for the next thing I remember after lying down was waking up the next morning. The sun was shining, in blissful contradiction to the urgency of the night before.

Miranda was still asleep, and so I waited for het to arise. As I sat there, my mind wandered back to a quandary that I had cast aside some time ago. What was my purpose now? As a human I had never bothered with such philosophical pursuits, but now that I didn't have books or videogames to escape to, I found it impossible not to. I decided against sharing this with Miranda, for fear of getting the same answer from her once again. I would follow her, but that was not true purpose. I reached no conclusions on the matter, and Miranda awoke some time later.

I looked over at her. "Where do you want to go now?" I asked. She shrugged, a rather awkward action with four legs.

"I guess…" She said, and then paused for a few seconds. "Why don't we go visit Lumiose City? I've never been in the city proper."

I exhaled sharply. "I don't think that's a great idea."

Scoffing, she said "Oh, come on. The place is by all accounts very Pokémon friendly."

"I very much stand out in a crowd, you know, and –" I started, but Miranda did not let me finish.

"We are going to Lumiose." She stated, with force, tilting her head slightly as if daring me to argue further.

I relented. "Alright, we can go to Lumiose."

"Good." She said. "And you'd better get used to it."

Confused by this, I asked "What?"

"Oh, not winning arguments with me." She said, a satisfied smile on her face. I let out a sigh as my response, making Miranda laugh lightly, and it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. "Let's get going then." She said, and so we did.

I knew we were in the north east of Kalos, and figured out which direction to go from the position of the morning sun. We headed off into the forest, at a leisurely pace. Instead of continuing to worry about the big picture problem of purpose, I decided to focus on the small things, like the smell of pine sap that permeated the air here, and Miranda, walking close beside me.

The miles past without event until we came across a dirt road cutting through the forest, with no one visible on it in both directions. I glanced over at Miranda. She nodded, and we passed through the undergrowth onto the road. We followed along it for some amount of time, before we reached a rather sharp curve in the road.

I heard footsteps in the distance, and once again looked over at Miranda, who affirmed that she had noticed and just continued walking. We rounded the bend to see a hiker, wearing a vest and sun hat and a walking stick that, judging by the leaves on it, he had picked up on the side of the road.

He glanced over at us, and then did a slightly comical double take. He nevertheless passed us by, although I did get the sense that he was still staring at me. "See?" Miranda said. "People don't care about Pokémon walking around on their own around here."

The other people we passed by on the road, maybe twenty or thirty in total, all had similar reactions to that of the hiker. That is, until we came across a young trainer. It was a young girl, probably just having set out a week ago by the looks of it.

Her reaction was to pull out a pokéball, and release the Pokémon inside, a small fox like Pokémon with great red tufts of fur coming out of its ears. I groaned, looking over at Miranda, then back to the Pokémon. "Fennekin, um… use ember!" the girl yelled, about twice as loud as was necessary. The Pokémon blew some embers in our general direction, but not strong or fast enough to reach us.

"S-s-sorry" the Pokémon stammered, glancing up at its trainer.

"There's no reason to fight us, you wouldn't win." Miranda said.

"I know… my trainer doesn't though." The Pokémon responded. It sat down and looked sadly up at the girl. The girl got the message, and recalled the Pokémon, poutily.

"Oh, I'll never catch a Pokémon at this rate." She said, then continued her walk back down the road, kicking a stone along as she went. The entire rest of the day passed without event, and by the time the sun had set we reached the outskirts of Lumiose City.

I heard a siren, and then saw the smoke rising against the deep blue of the sky. Miranda had noticed it as well, and without a word set off running towards it, moving through the narrow suburban streets. I followed close behind. Just in sight of the fire Miranda stopped dead in her tracks, paralyzed by the sight of the burning manor house. What must have been the majority of the Lumiose Fire Department was present, consisting of a number of assorted water Pokémon and a few men with axes and ladders.

Suddenly, it clicked in my mind. "Miranda… was this your house?" I asked quietly. Miranda nodded, slowly, tears beginning to run down her face. "Come on." I said gently, after a minute or two, leading her over to a tree on the corner of the yard. We sat there, under the tree, and I did my best to comfort her until she fell asleep. Eventually, so did I.

The first thing I did the next morning was grab a copy of the free newspaper from one of the many automated stands located around the area and bring it back to the still sleeping Miranda. The fire had made the front page. It said that the family's last name was Evans. Miranda had never told me that.

Miranda awoke a few minutes later. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Better." She said, shortly. "I'm over the shock and remembering how much I hated being cooped up in there for so long." She laughed bitterly.

"Your mother survived." I said, pushing the paper towards her. "And it mentions two daughters as being missing, you never told me you had a sister."

Miranda sighed. "I try to keep her out of mind. She was my parent's favorite and loved to rub that in."

"Well, it says that your mom made no comment on either of you."

Miranda took the paper finally, and read through the story. "Odd, that's very out of character for her." She said. "Well, are we going to head into the city or no?"

"Lets." I replied, and off we went. The city was packed full of people, only a small portion of whom weren't completely shocked to see a shiny Pokémon walking down the street. We were hardly the only Pokémon walking free, as Miranda had predicted. She seemed to be ignoring the stares we were garnering, but I was painfully aware of them.

"Leave them alone!" Someone in the crowd called out. "How would you feel if everyone was staring at you like that?" Murmuring, people around us began to disperse slightly. We passed by an alley, and I caught a glimpse of a girl who looked remarkably like Miranda did as a human, albeit younger, holding an Abra in her arms. She was leaning against the wall, humming to herself.

I nudged Miranda, and gestured with a paw towards the girl. Miranda's eyes widened, and she set of quickly down the alley. I let her pull ahead a bit, and she stopped in front of the girl, who seemed startled. The abra floated out of the girls arms, and down towards us.

"Who are you?" It asked.

"I am Miranda Evans, and this is Jacob, a friend of mine." Miranda said.

The girl's eyes widened. The abra was obviously communicating with her telepathically. "And why should I believe that." She asked, shock overcome by suspicion.

"Because Sarah Olivia Evans is standing in an alley, so it seems that daddy's favorite isn't so special anymore." Miranda said, harshly. Sarah gave a hollow laugh. "Fiery as ever Miranda. I still have to wonder, how?" she gestured at Miranda.

"So, when I disappeared two years I was kidnapped by a mad scientist. He's locked up now though." Miranda said. "And why are you on the streets?"

"Because I wasn't as normal as dad thought." Sarah said. "Turns out I had latent telepathic power, and I sensed Sevrum here hurt out in the yard." She indicated the abra. "So I ran outside and brought him in to try and heal him. Dad keeps all the windows closed, you know, so he started questioning me about how I knew it was there."

Sarah sighed before continuing. "You know I was never a great liar. So he found out then promptly kicked me out. The house burned down I heard. Good riddance. Anyways, I still have the only document that I need to get my revenge on mom, the uncaring bitch that she is." She pulled a crumpled but official looking paper out of the small bag that she had lying on the ground. "This names me as owner of the company in the event that anything happens to Dad."

Miranda grinned. "Glad to hear it."

Sarah spoke again. "So, if you two need a place to stay, check back at the property in a few months. I'll be rebuilding, albeit a bit smaller and more colorful."

"Alright, I think we are going to be going now." Miranda said. "Oh, and Sarah… It's good to see you again."

Sarah smiled. "It's nice to see you too, sis." We turned around and began to head out of the alley, only to be blocked by a man in black, a malicious grin on his face as he reached for a pokéball.


	24. The end

**Hello again everyone! Sorry for being absent for such a long time, and I'm so very sorry to leave you guys with that cliffhanger. Dota 2 has almost completely consumed my life for the past couple of weeks. After watching TI5 (The International 5, this year's world championships for the game) I have been playing quite a bit. I'm currently sitting at around 1.6k hours in game and I'm not stopping any time soon. I have clocked in at 100 hours in the past two weeks, and around 200 total in the past month, which albeit may be slightly unhealthy is fun none the less. To be completely honest the reason I am writing this right now is because there was a local internet outage. **

**IMPORTANT INFO BELOW!**

**I am sorry to inform you that this will be the final chapter for this story, and that I will not be writing any fanfiction for a while, I predict. I have decided to focus on my completely original works of creative writing, which you can find on Fictionpress under the same username as I have here. As I have had Jacob express twice so far in this story, I haven't been able to find a purpose for the tale any more, no driving force to propel the plot onwards. In the future I may write a direct sequel to the story, but not for many months to come, I predict. Thank you to everyone who has been supportive of my writing, and all who have read and enjoyed this story. I feel obliged to once again extend my thanks to What Lies Beyond, without whom the story would have gone in an incomprehensibly different direction. **

**Review Responses: **(I will respond to these with PM's)

**Kokoshimi: **I never scheduled when I was going to write another chapter, it was all very spontaneous.

**Caitou zzzzzz: **Yeah, they would defiantly become closer as time went on, now that they don't have their parents bearing down on them. I really saw their parents as being emotionally abusive to Miranda, although I'm not sure I got that across well.

**GlaceonFan: **That there will be.

**Phillip Harbindinger: **I'm glad you liked that chapter! Looking back on it there are one or two things I would change but I did think it was good.

The man, quite obviously a Pokémon hunter of some kind, chuckled when he saw Sarah. "Let me take these Pokémon, street rat, and I won't have to hurt you." His voice was abrasive, and wholly annoying. He clicked the center button on the pokéball, unleashing a Talonflame, but with wings tipped in crimson instead of black. The shiny Pokémon alighted on its trainers' shoulder, looking mighty pompous.

"Hmph, barely worth my notice." It said, haughtily. It took off, hovering for a few seconds, before diving straight at me, setting itself alight in the process. I stood my ground as it came at me, and took a small hop upwards at the last second. I landed on its back, the sudden weight forcing it into the ground, its flames licking at my feet. I stepped off of it quickly, and it struggled to get up, its plumage dirty from the impact.

The Pokémon hunter hurriedly recalled the Talonflame, fuming in rage at this turn of events. He pulled out two more pokeballs, and unleashed a Machamp and Raichu, although neither were shiny. The Machamp wasted no time, lunging forward, an elbow aimed at my face. I dodged his first strike, but his second left arm hit me in the side with enough force to knock me into the wall of the alleyway.

It was incredibly painful, but luckily didn't break any bones. I was however completely winded, and struggled to get back on my feet. The Raichu was advancing towards Miranda, who couldn't get close enough to get a hit in on it due to the vortex of electricity it was producing.

I heard Sarah and Sevrum speak simultaneously, saying only one word. "Stop." I looked over at the two of them. Their eyes were both glowing a bright purple color. The Machamp and Raichu froze in place, the Machamp stopped in the middle of winding up for a strike at me. The electric storm around the Raichu died down.

The two attacking Pokémon then slumped over, unconscious. "Get out of here!" Sarah yelled at the Pokémon hunter, her eyes fierce, the purple glow gone. The man swiftly recalled the two, and proceeded to begin running, right into the police officer who had been advancing behind him. The altercation had not gone unnoticed, and once again there was a crowd watching us.

"Officer, I, I, I…" The man stuttered, trailing off. The policeman scowled at him.

"You're under arrest for conspiracy to commit theft and Pokémon battling with malicious intent." He said, forcibly turning the man around and cuffing him. The officer turned to Sarah. "Would you come with me please? I need to interview you as part of the incident report. Bring all your Pokémon with you." He said.

Sarah glanced down at us. "I have no control over those two, so…" She said.

The officer considered for a few seconds. "That should be fine, as long you and the abra cooperate." He said.

"Come visit sometime soon!" She said to us, before following the police officer through the parting crowd and off into the city.

"And this is why I didn't want to go to Lumiose." I said, pointedly. "Trouble just loves to follow me around, it seems.

"We handled it just fine." Miranda replied. "And I doubt that anyone will try to bother us after that. She left the alley and began walking down the street, and I followed behind, painfully aware of the gaze of many in the crowd following me. I wondered why no one had tried to intervene; probably they were either too scared or too amazed to do anything.

The streets of the city were busy, full of pedestrians and bikers but with few cars. We wandered around aimlessly, still attracting a moderate amount of attention from passersby. "Is there anything in particular you want to see?" I asked Miranda. I was starting to get bored of the city, I felt like there wasn't much to see here.

"Not really." She said. "I just want to get the experience of being in Lumiose, but… I guess it's less exciting than I thought. I always dreamed about exploring the city when I was younger." She turned towards me. "Do you want to leave?" She asked, and I nodded in response.

"Yeah, there isn't much for us here, I think." I said.

"Ah well." Miranda sighed. She looked around for a few seconds, then pointed at one of the large arches that marked entrances and exits to Lumiose. "Let's get a move on, I suppose." We left the city, leaving behind the crowds and their prying eyes, out past the suburbs and into the forests of Kalos.

We stopped for the night in a clearing, the glow of the city far behind us and the stars in the sky as vivid as could be. The moon arisen, its silvery light shining down upon us reflected Miranda's eyes, and in that moment, I knew true beauty.

We stared at eachother, not making a noise, until she broke the silence.

"Promise you'll never leave me?" She said, and tears welled up in her eyes, and I saw the weight of her father's death and her old home's destruction bearing down upon her.

"I swear upon the pain of death, that I will never leave you." I whispered to her.

And I never would.


End file.
